MDM2’s Mock Value Analysis Committee Will Help MedTech Startups Prepare for Hospital Adoption

Interested in Mock Value Analysis? Join us at Venture Cafe Phoenix on August 20 for a preview: https://venturecafephoenix.org/programs/thursday-gathering/

A promising medical technology can demonstrate a clear patient benefit and still encounter significant obstacles when it reaches a hospital.

That’s because hospital adoption decisions rarely depend on clinical value alone.

Hospitals also have to consider safety, workflow, training, reimbursement, cost, infrastructure, maintenance, compliance, and the impact on the people responsible for using and supporting the technology.

To help early-stage companies prepare for these complex decisions, MDM2 is developing a virtual, cross-functional Mock Value Analysis Committee initiative for Arizona MedTech startups.

The initiative will give companies a structured, lower-risk environment where they can present their technology, answer challenging questions, identify gaps in their value proposition, and better understand how hospitals evaluate new products.

Moving Beyond the Problem and the Solution

Early-stage MedTech teams devote considerable time to defining a clinical problem and developing a product that addresses it. Those are essential steps, but they aren’t the end of the adoption story.

A hospital has to determine not only whether a technology works, but also whether it creates enough value across the organization to justify purchasing, implementing, and supporting it.

A product might improve patient outcomes but require extensive staff training. It might reduce complications but lack a clear reimbursement pathway. It could give clinicians better information while adding work or disruption for nursing teams. It might perform well clinically but require unusual storage, power, construction, cybersecurity, or maintenance resources.

These concerns don’t necessarily mean a hospital will reject the technology. They do mean companies need to understand the concerns, prepare credible answers, and show that they’ve considered the full implementation environment.

The earlier these issues are identified, the more opportunity a company has to address them through product design, evidence development, commercialization planning, or stakeholder communication.

What Is a Hospital Value Analysis Committee?

A hospital Value Analysis Committee, commonly called a VAC, reviews new products, devices, technologies, and services before they’re approved for purchase or use.

The committee’s role is broader than determining whether a product is innovative or clinically effective. Reviewers may examine whether the product:

• Improves patient care or safety

• Supports existing clinical workflows

• Creates additional responsibilities for nurses or other care teams

• Requires specialized training

• Has a credible economic and reimbursement case

• Can be stored, installed, cleaned, maintained, and supported

• Introduces compliance, cybersecurity, or off-label-use concerns

• Requires changes to facilities, infrastructure, or equipment

• Provides enough value to justify its total cost

The perspectives represented in a hospital review can be just as broad. Clinical leaders might focus on patient outcomes and evidence. Nursing teams may consider workflow and usability. Finance and reimbursement professionals may examine cost and payment. Supply chain teams might evaluate purchasing and storage. Biomedical engineering and facilities personnel may assess installation, maintenance, power, space, and physical requirements.

A company that speaks to only one of these audiences may leave important questions unanswered.

Creating a Realistic Practice Environment

MDM2’s Mock Value Analysis Committee will bring together reviewers who reflect the clinical, financial, operational, and compliance perspectives involved in real hospital decisions.

The committee will include participants with experience in:

• Clinical care and nursing

• Patient safety

• Hospital finance and reimbursement

• Supply chain and operations

• Compliance

• Biomedical engineering

• Facilities and infrastructure

Participating companies will have an opportunity to present their product and value proposition to the committee in a structured virtual session.

The format includes a standardized product brief distributed before the meeting, followed by an approximately 60-minute review session. The company would provide a 15-minute presentation covering the problem, solution, clinical value, evidence, risks, economic considerations, and implementation requirements.

Committee members will then conduct a 30-minute question-and-answer discussion. The process would conclude with structured scoring, summary feedback, and a written VAC Readiness Report.

The initiative is educational and preparatory – intended to help companies understand how their product may be viewed, where their story is strong, and where additional work may be needed.

Identifying Barriers Before They Become Roadblocks

A mock review can reveal questions that may not emerge during traditional product-development discussions. For example, a committee may ask:

• How much training will clinicians need before they can use the product safely and consistently?

• Will the technology add steps to a nurse’s workflow?

• Does the product fit within existing treatment rooms and storage areas?

• Will biomedical engineering need to support a unique power supply, maintenance process, or installation requirement?

• Is there a clear reimbursement pathway, or will the hospital have to absorb the cost?

• Does the expected clinical benefit justify the full cost of implementation?

• Are there potential compliance, cybersecurity, or off-label-use concerns?

These questions can be difficult, but they’re valuable. Receiving them before a real hospital review gives a company time to improve its evidence, refine its presentation, reconsider product priorities, and prepare more complete implementation plans.

The process can also help companies communicate more effectively with different audiences. A clinical leader, finance executive, nurse, and facilities professional may all define value differently. Companies that understand those perspectives can build a more credible and complete case for adoption.

Building Skills Before the Mock Review

MDM2 is also considering a companion VAC Training Seminar to help companies prepare before appearing before the mock committee.

The seminar may introduce participants to the purpose and structure of hospital Value Analysis Committees, common decision criteria, and the materials companies should be ready to provide.

Potential training topics include:

• Building an effective VAC submission

• Framing clinical and economic evidence

• Communicating value to different hospital stakeholders

• Identifying evidence gaps

• Preparing for workflow and implementation questions

• Responding to difficult committee questions

• Learning from previous cases and anonymized examples

  
  

The larger vision is to create a continuous learning process that combines education, preparation, mock review, actionable feedback, peer learning, and practical resources.

Over time, anonymized examples and case studies could help participating companies learn from one another while strengthening the overall readiness of Arizona’s MedTech community.

Strengthening Arizona’s MedTech Ecosystem

The Mock Value Analysis Committee isn’t intended to benefit only individual companies.

By bringing startups, clinicians, hospital professionals, industry participants, and ecosystem organizations into a shared learning process, the initiative can improve communication between the people developing new technologies and the people responsible for evaluating and implementing them.

For startups, that means better preparation and a clearer understanding of hospital expectations.

For reviewers, it creates an opportunity to examine emerging technologies in a structured setting and contribute practical insights earlier in the development and commercialization process.

For Arizona’s broader MedTech ecosystem, the initiative will help produce more hospital-ready companies, stronger commercialization strategies, and better connections among innovators and healthcare organizations.

A strong product is still essential. However, successful adoption also requires a strong understanding of the environment where that product will be purchased, implemented, used, and supported.

If you're a startup or health system interested in participating, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us at info@mdm2.org.