Emergency Medicine Consulting

Overview

The Massachusetts General Hospital Emergency Medicine Consulting (EMC) collaborative provides consulting services and health care market research opportunities for companies seeking feedback on existing or prospective medications, devices and services. By connecting industry partners with the Mass General health care professionals who use them, companies have the opportunity to develop better products and strengthen clinical care for the patients. 

Mass General health care providers are thought leaders with hands-on experience in direct patient care. In addition to providing feedback on products in the pipeline, they can share insights and trends in health care, emergency medicine and acute care services. We host workshops, interviews and hospital tours to bridge the gap between product design teams and health care providers.

Our Mission

The EMC was created to assist in the design of better health care products and services. Mass General has a longstanding commitment to advancing the care of our patients and this commitment extends to ensuring that the products and services we use are optimally designed for ease of use and appropriate use. We believe our patients are best served when health care providers and industry partners work together.

We provide product consulting services to biotechnology, medical device and pharmaceutical companies as well as connect companies with Mass General providers who share feedback on the gaps between technologies and end-user needs. Consistently ranked one of the top hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, our clinicians use the most advanced tools currently available in order to care for patients every day.

Our Goals

• To connect biotechnology, medical device and pharmaceutical companies with renowned health care professionals. This type of consumer research ensures that all products and services are designed with the end users in mind
• To ensure optimal use of products by clinicians. Our patients are best served when health care professionals can provide feedback in the development of new products
• To help product designers and developers create new products and services. Oftentimes, product designers and developers have great product ideas, but no venue to test for likability. We provide such a venue. Testing new products in a productive environment with the help from top-notch, practicing health care professionals will strengthen the final product

Our Focus Areas

Our focus areas are the ones in which we believe we can significantly help your organization, product or idea become even stronger. Our services are not limited to these areas and we encourage you to reach out with any questions or needs outside of the list below.

Services and products that impact the patient and physician experience in parts of the pre-hospital stage, such as:

• Emergency medical services
• Satellite hospitals and community health centers 
• Urgent care

Services and products that impact the patient and physician experience in parts of the treatment stage, such as:

• Acute care
• Critical care
• Home monitoring and home hospital
• Inpatient care
• Intensive care

Services and products that impact the patient and physician experience in parts of the recovery stage, such as:

• Emergency preparedness and disaster medicine
• Outpatient services
• Point-of-care ultrasound
• Rehabilitation
• Skilled nursing facilities and home hospital

Our Services

In order to accomplish our goals, we offer a range of services that ultimately allow you to evaluate how clinicians interact with prospective products and services.

Below is the list of the services we offer. Other services are negotiated based on your needs.

• Clinical observerships and in-hospital tours for company representatives to obtain a structured experience observing clinical providers during routine clinical care. Accompanied by a member of our team, your representative may wish to observe clinical care in the emergency department or inpatient setting in order to gauge how providers use equipment, such as peripheral IVs or central lines
• Feedback and review sessions in which we arrange for clinical and technical experts to review new products or concepts and provide valuable feedback to guide product development
• Focus groups with physicians, nurses, administrators and/or advanced practice providers to evaluate or discuss current products, their practices and any unmet needs
• Ideation workshops that bring together a group of people with diverse backgrounds to generate new ideas and provide feedback in the early stages of product development
• In-depth interviews with experts and specialists in every medical field who can provide a rich source of information on the current state and future of specialized areas in health care
• Seminars and talks on specific topics of interest
• Simulation and product pilot testing in which clinicians use current or novel products on simulated patients. This provides the powerful opportunity to observe the end-user experience of a product in a structured environment
• Surveys with health care providers regarding the health care environment and/or usability of a new or existing product in a specialized medical area

The array of services we provide can be valuable at any stage in the product development cycle.

Our Customers

Our customers typically fall into any of the below categories and are seeking feedback from medical professionals regarding new products and ideas on a per diem basis, as opposed to having to hire a full-time team.

• Biotechnology companies
• Health care consulting companies
• Health care services companies
• Medical device companies
• Medical equipment companies
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Technology scouts from venture capital and investment companies