21 Nov Journey to Drug Tariff: Richard Tuson on the geko device and MedTech innovation
Richard Tuson, CEO and Founder of Health Analytical Solutions Ltd, recently shared his story of supporting Sky Medical Technology, and other MedTech companies, through their journey to NHS adoption and Drug Tariff. Speaking with Journal of mHealth, Richard outlined the critical steps MedTech companies need to consider to achieve meaningful engagement with Drug Tariffs.
Building an economic case with the geko™ device
Working with Richard and Health Analytical Solutions, Sky Medical has been able to build a health economic argument to deploy the geko device and assist with the submission to Drug Tariff.
As wounds heal at different rates, we needed to identify where the treatment would be most appropriate for patients and demonstrate to Drug Tariff that there would be measures in place for clinicians to prescribe the device. In the Journal of mHealth article, Richard shared:
“Much of the cost-saving was around hard working district nurses, who regularly visit VLU patients. With the workforce being reduced by nearly 50% over the last decade, supporting them presents a huge benefit to the system. If your wounds heal quicker, you need less visits from district nurses, enabling more people to be treated. A further saving was on consumables such as compression bandages.”
Demonstrating value and improving patient outcomes
Richard’s team also devised a strategy where clinicians could assess whether a VLU was on the right trajectory to heal after 28 days, helping Drug Tariff understand the financial implication of approving the geko device for VLUs and enabling them to identify where it would have the most impact
“We were looking at a subset of VLU patients, where after six weeks they are deemed to have a chronic wound or stalled in their healing. Where patients were either experiencing very slow healing or no healing at all, the geko device could have a significant impact on health economics instantly. We could be talking of a reduction of several weeks in healing time. With a district nurse visiting two or three times per week at a cost of £40 a visit, the benefits of the product quickly add up.”
Find the full news announcement here
Read Richard’s full interview here
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