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Market Research Methodologies: Post-Market Surveillance of Medical Devices
Market Research Methodologies
Suitable For
Target Audience
Benefits
Expert Panels
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Telephone Interviews
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Focus Groups
Products where the patient has little interaction with the product or little influence on product choice, and where the product is likely to be use by a discrete group of healthcare professionals;
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Surgical instruments
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Implants
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Medical equipment used by technicians and laboratories
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Dressings and drapes
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Surgeons
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Other specialist medical/theatre staff
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Technicians
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Laboratory staff
Regular feedback from expert frequent users of the product to enable improvements to be made to;
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The product
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The packaging and instructions
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The training
The ability to make changes to the product and obtain feedback on those changes from the same group.
Patient Panels
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Online surveys
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Focus Groups
Products used primarily by patients, such as;
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Asthma inhalers
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Monitoring equipment and consumables
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Stoma products
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Patients
Online surveys can provide regular feedback from large samples of users, while focus groups offer the opportunity for more in-depth feedback and understanding of any issues that may arise with the product.
Products used by specialist healthcare professionals.
Advisory Boards
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Online surveys
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Focus Groups
Focus Groups
Any product where a great depth of understanding of use and opinion is required.
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Healthcare professionals
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Technical staff
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Patients
Provides in-depth information about how users feel about the product, how they use it, and the issues and problems they may encounter.
Focus groups are particularly useful for problem solving and for assessing potential solutions.
Our professional recruiters would recruit healthcare professionals and technical staff via a direct approach.
Patients could be recruited via GP surgeries, hospital clinics or via patient information leaflet registration.
The focus groups would be held in a central location, with client viewing facilities if required.
Telephone Interviews
Any product where quick, precise feedback is required.
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Healthcare professionals
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Technical staff
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Patients
Provides quick feedback. Sample sizes can be larger, and the respondent sample can be controlled so that specific user-types can be targeted.
Telephone interviews also allow for a mix of quantitative and qualitative information to be collected.
Face-to-Face Interviews
Any product where a great depth of understanding of use opinion is required, and where you do not want respondents to be influenced by others.
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Healthcare professionals
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Technical staff
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Patients
Provide high quality, in-depth information on each individual’s experience with the product.
Very useful for assessing how respondents use a product, and for identifying problems and their implications.
Online Surveys
Any product where quantitative data is required quickly. Most suitable for widely-used products, with users spread across different disciplines and locations.
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Healthcare professionals
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Technical staff
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Patients
Provides an opportunity to gain feedback and input from a large number of specialists in a short space of time. Useful for quantifying issues but can also offer an opportunity to carry out more in-depth research.
Respondents can be recruited in advance from attendee lists for qualitative research, or can be recruited on the exhibition stand for quantitative research.
Conference & Exhibition feedback
Products used by certain specialties. Niche products. Can be used for quantitative or qualitative research.
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Healthcare professionals
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Technical staff
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Patients
Provide high quality, in-depth information on each individual’s experience with the product.
Very useful for assessing how respondents use a product, and for identifying problems and their implications.
Respondents can be recruited in advance from attendee lists for qualitative research, or can be recruited on the exhibition stand for quantitative research.
How It Would Work
A panel of experts, with potential for regular usage of the product, would be recruited soon after launch.
The group would be contacted at regular intervals throughout an extended period to provide ongoing feedback based on their experience of the product.
The group could also be used as a sounding board for product improvements and new product development.
Patients would be recruited either via patient information leaflets or via GP surgeries and would be retained for a period of time to provide feedback on their experience of using your product.
Any issues or problems they have can be identified through online surveys while greater detail and possible solutions can be explored in focus groups.
Advisory boards typically last for a whole working day and comprise a series of in-depth discussions about current practice and the product in question.
Note: Hospital consultants usually need 6-8 weeks’ notice to attend these.
Provides feedback from opinion leaders in their field. Can be a useful indicator of how a practice is likely to change in the future and how that will affect your product.
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Opinion Leaders
Respondents would be targeted from lists of healthcare professionals and technical staff or, in the case of patients, via patient information leaflet registration.
Recruited either direct or via an intermediary, interviews would take place either at the respondent’s place of work or home, or at a central location where client viewing facilities can be arranged.