Cleared for Takeoff: Go-to-Market Insights from a MedTech First Officer

Here's something most first-time MedTech founders don't realize until it's too late:  when it comes to hospital Value Analysis Committees, you're probably not going to be in the room when they evaluate your device. 

Value Analysis Committees don't typically invite vendors to present. Your product will be evaluated by a cross-functional group including clinicians, supply chain, finance, risk management, quality professionals and potentially others, based on the materials you submit to them and the case your internal champion makes on your behalf. 

To be clear for those of you who are still wrapping your head around this - someone else is basically selling your product for you, using whatever you gave them to work with. 

This should change everything about how you approach VACs. The mistakes that kill deals in Value Analysis aren't presentation mistakes, they are preparation mistakes.  They're gaps in what you built, who you prepped, and what you sent into a room you'll never set foot in. 

These are five of the mistakes I see over and over: 

1. You Armed Your Champion With a Brochure Instead of a Business Case 

Your physician champion believes in your product. They've used it, they like it, they want it on contract. This is necessary, but it is in no way sufficient. 

When they walk into that committee meeting, they're not pitching to other physicians, they're defending a purchasing decision to supply chain directors, financial analysts, and risk managers. If all they have is your glossy sell-sheet or a pitch deck and a personal endorsement, they're likely going to get eaten alive. 

What your champion actually needs is a concise, evidence-based business case: clinical evidence, healthcare economics, workflow impact analysis, and a clear implementation plan. Something the committee can review, circulate, score, and reference when they vote. 

Your champion's credibility is on the line every time they bring a product forward. Please respect that by giving them something they're not just able, but proud to defend. 

2. You Didn't Prep Your Champion for the Reimbursement Question 

It is inevitable that someone on the committee is going to ask: "How does this get reimbursed?" 

Your champion is a clinician. They probably don't know the answer. So, when they stumble, hedge, or say "the company is working on that," you just introduced uncertainty into a room that is fundamentally designed to eliminate it. 

Before your champion ever submits a request for review, make sure they can clearly articulate: 

•  Which CPT/HCPCS codes apply, and whether your device fits existing codes or needs new ones 
• Current payer coverage status, both commercial and Medicare 
• Whether your product changes the facility's DRG or reimbursement amount 
• Any prior authorization requirements that could slow adoption 

Your champion doesn't need to be a reimbursement expert, but they do need enough of a command of the basics that they don't create doubt. Give them a one-page reimbursement summary they can reference or hand off to the committee. Make the hard question easy for them to answer. 

3. You Built the Value Story for the Surgeon, Not the Committee 

Your champion is excited about clinical performance. Better visualization. Faster procedure times. Superior outcomes. And they're going to lead with this, because it is what matters to them. But the committee is evaluating your product against a much wider scorecard. The CFO cares about total economic impact. Supply chain cares about logistics, shelf life, and compatibility with existing systems. Risk management cares about liability and post-market surveillance. Quality wants outcomes data and complaint history. 

If your materials only speak the clinician's language, your champion is carrying a one-dimensional case into a multi-dimensional evaluation. 

The fix: build a value dossier that gives your champion ammunition for every stakeholder in the room. Clinical outcomes for the clinicians. Healthcare economics (not just unit price) for finance. Workflow and staffing impact for nursing. Compatibility and logistics for supply chain. 

One product with multiple value stories. All in one document your champion can hand over. 

4. You Skipped the Pre-Meeting Groundwork 

The VAC meeting is the formal vote; the real evaluation starts long before it. And if your champion submits a request without any groundwork, they're walking in cold, and so is the committee. 

Before the request ever gets submitted, someone on your team needs to: 

• Start talking to supply chain early. They often control the intake process and can tell you exactly what the committee requires, what format they want it in, and what's tripped up other submissions 
  
• Work to gather insight into the committee's evaluation criteria and scoring methodology so your materials map directly to how they'll be assessed 
  
• Know the meeting cadence. Some VACs meet monthly, some quarterly. Missing a submission window can cost you months 
  
• Find out if there are other stakeholders beyond your physician champion who should be briefed before the meeting. A supportive supply chain director or nurse manager can shift the dynamic in the room 

The companies that win don't just submit and hope, they do the work to make their champion's job easy, and the committee's decision obvious. 

5. You Didn't Model the Economics, So the Committee Did It for You 

Most startups hear "we need this to be cost-neutral" and think it means matching the price of the incumbent product. It doesn't. 

Cost-neutral means the total economic impact nets out even or better (think acquisition cost, training, disposables, procedure time, length of stay, readmissions, complications).  This is a much more complex argument than sticker price. And, it's a much more winnable one, if you do the work. 

But here's the problem: if you don't provide that model, the committee will build their own. And their model won't include the downstream savings, the efficiency gains, or the complication reductions that make your case. It'll be a straight-line cost comparison, and you'll probably lose on price to the incumbent. 

Give your champion a defensible economic model and show how it plays out over 12 to 24 months. Quantify the clinical and operational value. Make it easy for the committee to see the math because if they have to guess, they'll guess conservatively. 

In Summary 

Value Analysis Committees exist for a good reason. They protect hospitals from making expensive, poorly supported purchasing decisions. In most cases, they're making those decisions without you in the room. 

This means your job isn't to deliver a great presentation or pitch deck, it's to build a great case and put it in the hands of a champion who's fully equipped to carry it. 

Come prepared with a real business case, an economic model that holds up, a reimbursement story without holes, and materials that speak to every stakeholder at the table. Do that, and you won't just survive the VAC process, you'll make the committee feel smart for saying yes. 

PRIA Healthcare helps MedTech companies build reimbursement strategies, health economic models, and market access plans that hold up in the rooms that matter — even when you're not in them. If you're preparing for your first (or next) VAC submission, let's talk: Contact Us

Suzy Engwall

Senior Director, Global Business Development & Strategic Growth