MedTech Business Academy

Ask most MedTech teams who their competition is, and you’ll hear the same names: Medtronic, GE, Philips, Stryker, BD. But in 2026, the biggest obstacle to adoption may not be another company or another product. It’s human behavior.

In this episode of the MedTech Business Academy, Skender Daerti, Barbara Strain, and Mike Sperduti discuss why indifference, apathy, and the status quo have become MedTech’s toughest competitors. Health systems are stretched thin and asked to do more with less, so a promise of 10–20% better outcomes or cost savings often isn’t enough to justify the time and effort it takes to change.

The conversation covers why switching technologies is really a behavioral change, and why manufacturers need to understand a customer’s problem better than the customer does. It also covers how value analysis teams weigh new products against what’s already working, and why “one size fits all” messaging turns buyers away. The hosts also challenge top-down growth targets. When only 15% of a market is even willing to look at a category, and far fewer can actually convert this year, sales leaders need bottom-up, data-backed plans built from real customer conversations.

As teams finalize their 2027 plans, the message is clear: focus on the customers who truly need you, know your market, and build every plan from the customer up.

Healthcare is moving deeper into value-based care, and MedTech companies will need to change how they sell. As payment models evolve, the person buying a technology may not be the person who ultimately benefits from it.

In this episode of the MedTech Business Academy, Scott Alexander and Barbara Strain break down what the shift toward value-based care means for MedTech manufacturers. They discuss why cost and value often sit in different departments, why selling only to the department using the technology can stall adoption, and why manufacturers need to understand the broader financial and operational impact of their products.

The conversation also explores the increasingly complex health-system decision-making process, including how manufacturers can help clinical champions identify the right stakeholders, navigate internal politics, and build broader organizational buy-in.

As 2027 approaches, the message is clear: MedTech companies need to understand how healthcare organizations make decisions, not just how they buy products.

Hospitals are posting record 5%+ operating margins, yet medtech commercial teams are facing radio silence, longer sales cycles, and tighter budgets. Hospital rejections aren't about a lack of innovation—they reflect a sharp disconnect between hospital financial priorities and traditional sales pitches.

In this episode of the Medtech Business Academy, Barbara Strain, Scott Alexander, and Skender Daerti break down the modern hospital margin paradox. They discuss how health systems are systematically eliminating procedure variability, why physician scorecards are stifling clinical champions, and why pitching big academic centers often stalls commercial momentum.

The panel reveals how startups can bypass 12-month IDN approval delays by leveraging rural health centers for rapid evidence creation. Learn how to build the exact financial and operational proof large health systems demand, stop waiting on big-name call-backs, and transform your commercial strategy to win in today's market.

Value Analysis Committees strike fear into medtech commercial teams, but hospital rejections are rarely about product quality. Instead, they reflect a flawed commercial strategy.

In this episode of the Medtech Business Academy, Barbara Strain, Scott Alexander, and Tom Hickey break down modern hospital purchasing. They discuss the rise of triad leadership structures, the shift toward operational nurse leads, and why pitching only physicians guarantees a stalled committee review.

The panel explains how winning medtech brands target all four healthcare decision-makers (Clinical, Financial, Operational, and IT) and how reps can effectively frame clinical trials without overwhelming buyers with raw data.

A successful committee review is a major competitive moat. Learn how to equip your internal clinical champions with the exact evidence health systems need to reach a decision.

Trade shows are expensive, time-consuming, and frequently disappointing. Yet medtech companies continue attending them because exhibiting is treated as a cost of doing business rather than an investment that must produce a measurable return.

In this episode of the Medtech Business Academy, Skender Daerti, Barbara Strain, and Mike Sperduti examine why 86% of companies rate their conference ROI as poor or fair and what the successful 14% do differently. They discuss how shrinking provider travel budgets, fewer decision-makers on the show floor, and more informed buyers have changed the value of the traditional booth strategy.

The conversation explores how medtech companies can select the right conferences, identify and contact decision-makers before the event, create compelling reasons for attendees to engage, and shift spending from oversized booths toward meetings, demonstrations, speaking opportunities, customer appreciation, and pre-show marketing.

Trade shows still have a place in medtech. However, companies can no longer simply arrive, build a booth, and expect the right customers to appear. Success requires a strategy that begins before the show, creates meaningful face-to-face interactions during it, and continues with disciplined follow-up afterward.

In this episode of the Medtech Business Academy, Mike Sperduti is joined by Skender Daerti, Tom Hickey, and Scott Alexander for a conversation about what winning medtech companies are doing differently in today’s market.

The group breaks down why the old medtech sales playbook is no longer enough. Physician employment, value analysis, longer sales cycles, tighter budgets, and workflow pressure have changed how hospitals evaluate new technology. A strong clinical claim still matters, but successful companies now have to connect the clinical, financial, and operational story in a way that speaks to every stakeholder involved in adoption.

The panel also discusses why customer insight needs to happen earlier, why marketing should be treated as consistent market education, and why pipeline has to be engineered instead of left to chance. From better targeting and stronger data to inside sales, workflow design, and smarter use of field sales resources, this episode explores the practical shifts that separate companies gaining traction from those still relying on outdated assumptions.

If your team is trying to accelerate adoption, improve commercialization, or better understand how healthcare buying has changed, this conversation is worth a listen.



Watch now and subscribe for more conversations on medtech growth, adoption, and commercialization.

Education is often treated as something that happens after a medtech product is sold. In this episode of the Medtech Business Academy, Eric Poirier, CEO of Atmosphere Apps, joins Scott Alexander, Barbara Strain, and Skender Daerti to explain why education should be viewed as a core part of adoption, customer satisfaction, and long-term account protection.

The conversation centers on a simple but important idea: education can become a moat. When clinicians, sales teams, educators, and hospital stakeholders have easy access to the right information at the right time, a product becomes easier to use, easier to support, and harder to displace. That kind of education strategy can reduce friction, support value analysis, and strengthen the relationship between medtech companies and their customers.

Eric shares lessons from years of building mobile and web-based education tools in healthcare, including why apps fail when they try to do too much, why every tool needs a clear focus and internal champion, and why adoption does not happen just because a platform exists. The group also discusses the growing role of AI in education content development, from short-form audio training to transcripts, quizzes, learning objectives, and multilingual workflows.

For medtech leaders thinking about digital education, app development, clinical training, or post-sale adoption, this episode offers a practical look at what works, what fails, and where the opportunity is heading next.

The way medtech buyers learn, evaluate, and engage has changed, but many commercial teams are still working from an older playbook.

In this episode of Medtech Business Academy, Scott Alexander is joined by Skender Daerti, Barbara Strain, and Mike Sperduti for a conversation on how medical device companies need to rethink their approach to sales, marketing, and customer education. The panel discusses why buyers are no longer waiting for a rep to bring them information, how hospitals are looking inward to identify their own gaps, and why medtech companies need to show up with education before the buying cycle begins.

The conversation explores the shift from transactional selling to relationship-driven education, the growing role of digital and social channels, and why companies that understand their customers’ problems better than anyone else will be positioned to win.

At the center of the discussion is a simple but urgent idea: medtech selling is at an inflection point. The companies that continue to control information will struggle. The companies that educate, build trust, and meet buyers where they are will create the advantage.

For years, medtech commercialization has largely been driven by product expertise, relationships, and the efforts of individual sales representatives. But healthcare buying decisions have changed.

In this episode of the MedTech Business Academy, Skender Daerti, Barbara Strain, and Scott Alexander discuss what they believe is a major inflection point for the industry: the shift from transactional selling to strategic commercialization.

The conversation begins with a discussion about personas and quickly expands into a broader examination of how hospitals and health systems evaluate new technologies today. The panel explores why clinical champions alone are rarely enough to drive adoption and why successful companies must understand the priorities of financial, operational, IT, and value analysis stakeholders as well.

Along the way, they share real-world examples of products that struggled because key decision-makers were overlooked, discuss how organizational structures continue to evolve through mergers and consolidation, and examine why many sales teams are being asked to navigate increasingly complex buying environments without sufficient strategic support.

Key topics include:

• Identifying the stakeholders who truly influence adoption

• Understanding clinical, financial, operational, and technology personas

• Common commercialization mistakes that slow adoption

• The growing role of value analysis in healthcare purchasing

• How marketing can provide strategic support to the field

• Why medtech may be entering a new era of commercialization

Whether you're a marketer, salesperson, product manager, clinical leader, or executive, this episode provides a thoughtful discussion on how healthcare purchasing is changing and what medtech organizations must do to adapt.

In this episode of the MedTech Business Academy, Scott Alexander, Barbara Strain, and Mike Sperduti sit down with Frank Jaskulke of Avio Medtech for a practical conversation on what really separates successful medtech startups from the ones that stall. From credibility and execution to commercialization, networking, market fit, and the hidden costs of scaling sales, Frank shares clear, experience-based advice for innovators trying to move from concept to adoption.

The discussion also covers common startup blind spots, why solving a real market need matters more than falling in love with a solution, how to think about value analysis and workflow improvement, and where Frank sees some of the most exciting opportunities in medtech today.

Whether you're building, launching, investing in, or advising medtech companies, this episode is packed with insight you can put to work right away.

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