The Official Omedix Blog

I just finished speaking with a researcher doing a report on the market for the different services we sell, and it instantly became clear to me how problematic these reports are.

When I worked for GE Healthcare (at the time called “GE Medical”) the marketing department would have a fun time disparaging the expensive and ultimately totally inaccurate reports they received on the various markets.  What was amusing was that these reports would estimate the total market size, but sometimes that size would be lower than GE’s sales alone!

I didn’t have a sense at the time of why these reports were so bad, but now I do.  Let me count the ways:

(1) Zero Incentive to Contribute Good Information
So, I was asked questions like “what do you think will drive the market in the future?” or “what do you think practices will be looking for most when selecting this product type?”.  I certainly have my thoughts on that, but why would I want to effectively publish my strategic thinking by revealing it to a researcher?  What benefits do I gain from doing that?  If anything, I expressly do NOT want this information published because it’s potentially helpful to competiting companies. 

(2) A Strange Expectation that My Time is Worth $0/Hour
Maybe this falls under the incentives issue, but when I asked about how I was being compensated for my (presumably valuable) time I was told that I could receive a free preview of the report and that sales people would then follow up with me to see if I was interested in purchasing the report.  Huh? 

(3) What benefits do I receive from participating?
Again, this could fall under the incentives issue, but, honestly, what benefit do I receive by participating?  The only benefit I did see was that I get to ask the researcher my own questions about the market since he’s been speaking with everyone, but don’t these issues apply to them as well, so do I really trust the information?

At the end of the report’s development cycle, it will be sold for somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000 to medical device companies, pharma companies, private equity groups, and the like, and will serve as the basis for investment decisions (I suppose) in various companies.  But it’s whacky information…so…is it even a net positive influence (versus a net negative influence)?

We’ll see what happens when I get my free preview.

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