Jonathan M. Vigdorchik, MD, hip and knee surgeon at HSS spoke to Becker's about what he would like to see done differently in the spine and orthopedic industries.

“There are several things I would like to see change in the orthopedic industry: speed of innovation and the creation of products that add value to the surgeon and patient. The industry currently innovates too slowly. Companies call themselves medtech companies but release new products in three to five years, even for software updates or feature changes. This needs to mimic what we see in the tech industry: updates every few months and upgrades at least every year,” explained Dr. Vigdorchik.

"The next thing is the release of products that actually add value. Too many times I have seen a product released that is a triumph of engineering without actually having a clinical usefulness, or a copy cat "me too" product just to say you have one. The term "minimum viable product" needs to disappear from the industry, and companies should create products that add value by saving time for the surgeon, is easy to use by all to increase speed of adoption by all (even non-tech users) and making a more reliably consistent outcome free of complications for the patients," Dr. Vigdorchik continued. 

Read the full article at beckersspine.com.