This article is based on our recent webinar, "Building Effective Data Strategies that Unlock the True Potential of Smart Connected Patient Devices", in which digital health experts from S3 Connected Health, and Vocxi Health discussed how companies can transition from simply gathering data to implementing full-fledged data strategies that unlock the true potential of their smart connected patient devices.
For the past 30 years, device expenditure as a percentage of total U.S. national health expenditure has remained relatively flat at 6%. To drive growth, medtech companies must look beyond the device and build data-driven strategies to unlock new revenue streams.
Traditionally, medical devices have acted as standalone entities. However, as the healthcare landscape evolves and we move along the data value chain, as seen in the image below, new opportunities open up. Connecting devices allows for the collection of data on device usage, operation, servicing and maintenance information, which in turn enables operational enhancements. This is where significant revenue opportunities emerge—not just through device optimization but by leveraging data to generate insights into patient care and healthcare environments.
Further along this evolution, analyzing therapy effectiveness allows for continuous improvement, ensuring better patient outcomes, and ultimately, a fully connected health ecosystem transforms care delivery—breaking down silos, enabling seamless data sharing, and creating holistic, anytime, anywhere healthcare solutions.
The value of the data increases exponentially as we advance on this journey. Medtech companies must decide where they want to position themselves, which revenue streams they wish to pursue, and how they plan to capture these opportunities moving forward.
During the webinar, Ashlyn Zebrowski, Director of Medtech Consulting Services at S3 Connected Health, outlined the steps companies need to take to start building and implementing an effective data strategy. She advised starting off by asking these 4 questions:
Additionally, she discussed how companies can identify long-term goals and determine where they want to be in the future, by looking at the point where this top-down and bottom-up approach converge.
Business applications are where data-driven value becomes tangible. These applications deliver meaningful solutions to customers, users, and clinicians while also generating valuable data. This data, when transformed into actionable insights, guides strategic decision-making, helping organizations assess investment effectiveness, refine their direction, and identify new growth opportunities.
A data strategy must be continuously revisited and refined to remain effective. As new business applications emerge and partnerships evolve with data-driven companies, device manufacturers, or consumer health firms, an ever-expanding flow of information must be managed. Agility is key to ensuring that the data strategy remains dynamic, adaptable, and aligned with ongoing business growth and transformation.
Greg Sherwood, CTO of Vocxi Health discussed how they have applied this approach when building their data strategy.
Vocxi Health have created a hand-held device that performs a one-minute breath test, capturing over 10 MB of data per session. This data is analyzed for patterns and compared against established cancer markers to aid in early detection. Once the test is complete, the device transmits the data to the cloud, where a sophisticated algorithm processes it. The results are then delivered to physicians for further evaluation.
Beyond its immediate diagnostic capabilities, the platform continuously expands its value by cataloging vast amounts of disease-specific data. Over time, this growing dataset can be leveraged to identify patterns related to additional diseases, further enhancing its clinical and research applications.
Vocxi Health have recognized the important role data will play in the future of their business. As Sherwood said “There’s two parts to our business. One is the device, but the other part is this huge data play…we knew we were going to collect a lot of data, we knew we needed to be able to organise and collect it efficiently, analyze it quickly, get results back and then catalogue it so that we know what we can do with it in the future”.
Bill Betten, Director of Solutions- Medtech in S3 Connected Health took the points outlined during the webinar and applied those to a typical project plan.
He explained how in the concept design and definition stage, we focus on the why. We define the product, discuss its intended use, explore use cases, and establish the business strategy. At this stage, we transition from unstructured data—information about the project rather than the device itself—to a clear vision and strategic direction.
Moving into the development and validation stage, we shift to the what. What is our proposed solution, and how do we bring it to life? This involves solution creation, architecture, validation, and regulatory compliance. While digital strategy plays a role in shaping the what, it’s an iterative process. There’s often a gap between what strategists envision and what engineers and scientists can realistically build. This is why data plays a critical role throughout the entire process, ensuring the solution is designed to collect, manage, and process data effectively, ultimately generating the insights needed for success.
Finally, in the operation and lifecycle management stage, we focus on the how. How the product is built, operated, maintained, updated, and integrated into hospital workflows.
Throughout the entire product development process, key considerations such as data acquisition, management, communication, integrity, and access are essential drivers of the final product. Data is not just a component of development—it is the foundation that informs and shapes every stage.
A recurring theme of the questions from the audience in the webinar was around data security, Zebrowski noted that data security can be an incredibly difficult barrier for companies to overcome. When transitioning to more data-driven products and solutions, it is essential to address challenges related to data security, cybersecurity, and patient health information. While these challenges can be significant, they are certainly manageable.
“When we are thinking early on about our product development and what we want to use that data for, we need to know that the data is going to come through in the right structure, that we can use it, that its safe, that we are able to then move it forward and bring the value back to the people who need it; the patients and the physicians”.
Ashlyn Zebrowksi, Director of Medtech Consulting Services, S3 Connected Health
Data ownership is another critical issue that medtech companies must navigate. Is the data owned by the patient, the healthcare provider, the device manufacturer, or a combination of stakeholders? In many regions, patients legally own their health data and must provide consent for its use. Medtech companies that collect and process this data must establish clear terms of use, transparency policies, and data-sharing agreements to ensure ethical handling.
To dive deeper into these insights and gain expert guidance on developing a data-driven strategy access the full webinar now. Find out what panelists Bill Betten, Ashlyn Zebrowski, Greg Sherwood, and Tom Salemi had to say about how companies can transition from simply gathering data to implementing full-fledged data strategies that unlock the true potential of their smart connected patient devices.