The DeviceTalks Editorial team at DeviceTalks Boston. (From left: Chris Newmarker, Sean Whooley, Kayleen Brown, Tom Salemi, Jim Hammerand, Skyler Rivera)
After about seven years of covering the medical device industry for Medical Design & Outsourcing, MassDevice and more, I’m moving on to pursue other opportunities.
Immersing myself in an industry I was otherwise unfamiliar with before I joined this editorial team in 2019 has been a rewarding experience. I can’t express my gratitude enough to my teammates past and present, and also to the many people across medtech who have made this experience so worthwhile.
Coming from a sportswriting background, devices like continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) systems were completely foreign to me. I had no idea what FDA 510(k) clearance was or how Medicare reimbursement worked.
Over seven years, I’ve been fortunate to learn a lot about incredible innovations, cover both remarkable successes and unfortunate failures, and help amplify the wonderful stories that medtech delivers every single day.
To put a bow on my time in this industry, I’d like to share three takeaways from the last seven years. Thank you for reading and for your continued support of this life-saving and life-changing industry.
Innovation never stops
In September 2019, a month after I started as an editor here, Medtronic unveiled Hugo, its robotic-assisted surgery platform in a bid to take on Intuitive’s da Vinci, the longstanding leader in soft-tissue robotics. A little over a year later, I covered Johnson & Johnson’s unveiling of Ottava, its own planned entry into that market.
Both companies hit their share of snags in the development process. A lot of questions were asked about when their robots would even reach the market, let alone gain share in a space so plainly dominated by one player.
How their robots fare against da Vinci remains to be seen, but the companies received their first FDA clearances for Hugo and Ottava within the last year (Medtronic in December 2025 and J&J in July 2026).
Both companies took more than half a decade to reach that milestone. Both companies faced their fair share of skepticism along the way. But both companies finally got there and will no doubt be looking to do more with their robots in the future.
This is just one example that bookended my tenure here. A wide range of companies have overcome challenges and hardships in that time.
It stands to prove that innovation never stops. As Rocco De Bernardis, global president, Ottava at J&J, told me after the company’s FDA nod, “when you are trying to do something so disruptive and so innovative, innovation is not a straight line.”
Patients remain at the center of everything
One of the areas I focused on during my time in medtech was diabetes technology. CGMs and automated insulin delivery systems made up the bulk of the coverage and, from a purely medtech-focused perspective, the developments here over the last seven years show innovation never stops.
What stuck out to me, though, was the framing of the patient at the center of everything with diabetes.
A lot of the technology made for people who live with diabetes has to be worn and used daily. CGMs and some pumps sit on the skin for days and weeks at a time, while infusion sets need to be comfortably positioned while remaining able to effectively deliver insulin. At this stage, the majority of the diabetes technology on the market today comes with a mobile app to manage the condition from a smartphone.
All of this goes to show that these devices — and plenty more in medtech — aren’t just devices. They are extensions of the user and they need to be treated as such. Developers can’t stop at “this thing works.” They need to ensure the patient can actually use it and live with it 24/7.
Not all medical technologies have this consumer element. Not all patients get a choice in the type of heart valve they receive or the surgical robot that operates on them, whereas they can choose their preferred CGM or pump. However, it’s quite clear that the patient is still the most important piece of the equation.
Market conditions may fluctuate, but medtech is forever
About six months into my career as a medtech editor, the global COVID-19 pandemic hit. That brought drastic swings in the market and decisive strategic decisions made very quickly. Similar things have happened in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and Israel’s attacks on Iran, President Trump’s sweeping tariffs and other geopolitical events over the last several years. Even the introduction of AI and advanced automation capabilities has changed the way companies look at their business.
While changes may not always be as dramatic pandemics or war, the market is forever fluctuating. Medtech companies, like anyone else, are not immune.
Sometimes quarterly earnings coverage has been a formality, while other times they come with surprises that can send a company’s stock a long way in either direction. Every company is constantly auditing its individual units’ performances and adjusting accordingly, sometimes separating or discontinuing businesses. Often, they resort to headcount reductions to accommodate market changes or improve cost efficiencies.
The point here is that even when we see failures, closures, sell-offs and layoffs, medtech will always be an essential industry. People suffering from diseases, chronic conditions and more will always need therapy. The business elements may change, but the need never will.
It has been a privilege to write about this vital need and the people who do everything in their power to meet it. Thank you for reading over these past seven years. Please continue to read the hard, essential work that the team here at Medical Design & Outsourcing does.
Connect with me on LinkedIn if you’d like to stay in touch.
Join the team: We’re hiring an associate editor for Arrowfly’s MDO and MassDevice brands. Learn more and apply here.
