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For the first time since MRG began tracking the MCI, the overall score climbed into positive territory. Echoing this same sentiment, some medical device makers, including St. Jude Medical, Wright Medical Group, American Medical Systems, and others, reported increased sales or revenues in their Q4 earnings results. Other companies are still suffering recessionary declines: health care giant Johnson & Johnson reported falling profits for Q4, but its medical device unit grew by 11.8%, owing in large part to its subsidiary, Ethicon.
Although the industry isn’t out of hot water yet—certainly, the score for confidence in the national economy, though improved, remains quite low—the Q409 MCI results present reason to believe 2010 will allow for renewed growth in medical device markets:
- Most evident was the increase in medical professionals’ confidence in their facility’s financial position, which rose sharply in Q408
- Confidence in procedure growth remains strong
- Although the national economy outlook remains negative, respondent confidence has risen over the past four quarters
About the Medtech Confidence Index
The MCI was developed based on overwhelming medtech industry demand for a simple, intuitive metric to act as an indicator of the industry’s economic health. MRG developed the MCI based on widely used consumer confidence indices.
Purpose
Track attitudes and beliefs regarding:
1) National Economy
2) Facility Financial Position
3) Procedure Climate
MCI Analysis
Responses are coded +2/+1 for positive responses, and -2/-1 for negative responses (“No change” for Q3 Procedures = 0)
MCI is calculated as a simple average of the three scores
MCI is thus a positive or negative value between +200 and -200