Daniel Hawkins’ surprise isn’t a matter of what, but when.
The successful medtech executive and former Shockwave Medical CEO fully expected medical device makers would see Avail Medsystems’ telemedicine system as a more efficient way for sales reps to sit in on surgeries.
By Hawkins’ projections, Avail’s system would eliminate much of the time sales reps take traveling from operating room to operating room by allowing them to communicate with surgeons via camera and audio connections.
But Hawkins still didn’t expect demand for the system to come this quickly because no one could have predicted a pandemic.
“We would have been where we are today in three to four years,” Hawkins said in an interview with MassDevice. “What COVID-19 did was speed it all up … COVID put a white-hot spotlight on a problem that was already there.”
Avail’s solution is creating a communication network to connect medical sales reps to operating rooms. To build this network, Avail is providing its Avail System — a self-standing unit equipped with a camera to capture images surgery and a monitor to give surgeons access to information and input from outside the operating room —to hospitals at no cost.
Medical device reps, meanwhile, can connect with surgeons inside the OR using their tablets and an application created by avail. This week, the company also announced the launch of Avail Portal, a web-based system that allows users to manage schedules and communicate with surgeons.
To access the network, medical device companies will need to subscribe to Avail’s network. Avail would charge its member companies for each minute of communication. The hospitals would pay no fee.
By Tom Salemi | MassDevice
Image Credit: Avail Medsystems
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