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.

#MedTech #MedicalDevice #HealthcareInnovation #StartupStrategy #Commercialization #ValueAnalysis #MedTechBusinessAcademy

Healthcare value is changing fast in 2026. Cost pressure, CMS policy shifts, and the move toward value-based care are forcing hospitals, suppliers, and value analysis teams to rethink how value is defined and measured.

In this kickoff episode of the Creating Value Series, host Skender Daerti is joined by value analysis experts Barbara Strain, Jenell Robinson, and Terri Nelson to break down the evolving value equation in healthcare.

They discuss the classic formula Value = Quality ÷ Cost, why that equation is becoming more complex, and how hospitals are increasingly evaluating outcomes, efficiency, patient experience, and operational impact when making purchasing decisions.

This episode explores:

• How value analysis teams actually evaluate clinical products

• Why the lowest cost product is not always the highest value

• How CMS changes influence hospital purchasing decisions

• The role suppliers play in demonstrating meaningful value

• Why future value decisions may become more theoretical and outcomes-driven

If you work in medtech, hospital supply chain, clinical leadership, or healthcare strategy, this episode provides a practical look at how value analysis is evolving and what it means for product adoption.

This episode launches our new Creating Value series, where we will explore conversion compliance, supplier collaboration, value analysis processes across different healthcare systems, and more.

Subscribe for more conversations on healthcare value analysis, medtech strategy, and hospital decision-making.

Medtech’s New Battleground

In this episode of the Medtech Business Academy, Skender Daerti, Barbara Strain, and Scott Alexander discuss the forces shaping the medical device industry today. With strong earnings and renewed M&A activity, capital is flowing back into medtech. At the same time, hospitals continue to face staffing shortages, labor pressures, and operational constraints.

The conversation explores why workflow and operational efficiency are becoming critical factors in technology adoption. As providers try to do more with fewer resources, medtech companies that simplify processes and integrate into clinical workflows may have the greatest competitive advantage.

This episode examines the intersection of industry consolidation, AI-driven investment trends, and hospital operational realities, and what it means for medtech leaders navigating the next phase of the market.

2026 Kickoff sets the stage for what’s ahead in medtech. In this episode of the MedTech Business Academy, Skender Daerti is joined by Barbara Strain, Scott Alexander, Mike Sperduti, and Tom Hickey to reflect on the turbulence of 2025 and unpack what it means for selling, marketing, and implementing medical technology in 2026.

The panel discusses why uncertainty stalled decision-making last year, how tariffs and supply chain pressures changed provider behavior, and why conversion fatigue and implementation burden are killing more deals than ever. From educational marketing and smarter prospecting to clearer clinical, financial, and operational value messaging, this conversation focuses on what actually moves opportunities forward in today’s environment.

Looking ahead, the group explores CMS reimbursement changes, evolving provider priorities, investor expectations, and the growing need for adaptability as AI and new ways of working reshape how relationships are built and maintained.

Key themes in this episode:

• What 2025 revealed about the medtech market
• Why adoption friction matters more than price
• How to build pipeline in a slower, noisier market
• CMS changes and their impact on providers and suppliers
• Adaptation as the defining skill for 2026

???? Like, subscribe, and share this episode with someone planning their 2026 medtech strategy.

In this episode of the Medtech Business Academy, host Scott Alexander sits down with Skender Daerti, Barbara Strain, and Mike Sperduti to go deeper on voice of customer by focusing on one of the most underused tools in medtech: advisory boards.

They unpack what a modern advisory board really is, how it differs from one-off focus groups, and why the best boards are “snowflakes” that look different for each product, market, and objective. Skender introduces the idea of “closing the circuit” across all personas who touch a product, from physicians and nurses to EVS, biomed, IT, and quality leaders.

The group explores how to avoid the trap of getting “say” data that never turns into “do,” why you should pay advisors to tell you what you do not want to hear, and how to balance gray-bearded experts with emerging clinicians who understand today’s channels and behaviors. They wrap with practical steps for building your first advisory board, setting objectives, holding advisors accountable, and knowing when the right move is to kill a project.

If you are in medtech leadership, product management, marketing, or sales, this episode will give you a concrete playbook to design advisory boards that create a real unfair advantage in your market.

In Episode 7 of the Value Analysis Expert Series, Skender Daerti sits down with Barbara Strain, Terri Nelson, and Jenell Robinson to unpack indirect spend and why it belongs inside the value analysis conversation. From rentals and courier services to waste, valet, instrument repair, and placement agreements, the panel shows how these choices shape patient flow, compliance, budgets, and outcomes. Learn the questions value analysis teams ask, the metrics that matter, and how to engage supply chain early so departments avoid hidden costs and lost leverage.

The team unpacks a practical playbook for voice of customer in medtech. Learn how to recruit across the real buying committee, ask intent questions that forecast adoption, and focus on operational ease so your product clears the bandwidth barrier inside hospitals. Walk away with first steps to build buyer personas, create an internal champion, and keep a non-sales conversation running in the market.

Key takeaways:

• Do not generalize one cohort’s feedback across the committee
• Test intent with do oriented questions instead of nice to hear statements
• Operational simplicity is a decision driver when staffing is thin
• Build a champion and arm them to speak for finance and operations
• Keep VOC continuous to prevent point in time blind spots
• Use associations and local chapters to reach hard to access roles