Innovative Health Partners with Acutus Medical

In the beginning of October, Innovative Health announced a partnership with Acutus Medical, to help this disruptive medical device manufacturer make their revolutionary technology more economically available to hospitals. Acutus Medical has launched electrophysiology technology that can fundamentally change how we treat Atrial Fibrillation: Due to the superiority of Acutus mapping system and associated devices, the technology can significantly increase the success rate of ablation procedures and make it possible for the hospital to extend the treatment to more patients: In a field that has been characterized by incremental technology improvements, slow penetration of the A Fib patient population and ever-increasing costs, this is a welcome development. However, what really makes Acutus Medical’s decision to select Innovative Health as their partner revolutionary is not about the superior technology – it is the company’s recognition that medical device manufacturers cannot continue to launch more and more expensive technologies; that the economics of new technology need to match the hospitals’ financial realities. By combining Acutus superior technology with Innovative Health’s reprocessing offer, the device costs of an Atrial Fibrillation procedure can actually go down or remain the same. And it gets better: Acutus has committed to working with Innovative Health to ensure that Acutus devices can be reprocessed as soon as possible. This means the economics could get even better.

By combining Acutus superior technology with Innovative Health's reprocessing offer, the device costs of an Atrial Fibrillation procedure can actually go down or remain the same.

The reality for Electrophysiology Labs has been (is) that they struggle with being able to offer successful Atrial Fibrilation procedures to all patients that might benefit from them. And the reason is a combination of imperfect technology and bad economics. Medical device manufacturers constantly introduce new versions of established technology with incremental technology improvements, but no real impact on outcome. And, of course, new technology is associated with a higher price tag. This is not sustainable, and Acutus has approached their role as a medical technology company with a completely different mindset: If we want to see dramatic improvements in patient care, we need to look at the economics in addition to the technology itself. Innovative Health offers the industry’s most advanced portfolio of reprocessed medical devices, and by combining reprocessing with technology, Acutus can make it possible for hospitals to adopt the new technology without breaking the bank.

The idea of combining reprocessing with the sale of new devices isn’t exactly new (this was the concept behind Stryker’s purchase of Ascent Healthcare Solutions in 2009), but it may be the first time it actually alters the dynamics of the industry. Acutus leadership is clearly focused on this goal. We are excited about how Innovative Health may play a role in  changing the economics of nee technology – and improve patient care.