Emergency surgery centers, robots are considered the trend for orthopedic devices in 2023 (JNJ)
After seeing a downturn over the past few years due to COVID-19, the orthopedic device market is set to return to pre-pandemic levels this year.
The market is expected to reach ~$50 billion by 2023, according to analytics firm GlobalData.
COVID-19 as well as health insurance company reimbursement policies are shifting many orthopedic surgeries out of hospitals and into outpatient facilities, such as surgical centers. emergency care (ASC).
This could benefit companies like HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA), Community Health System (CYH), Universal Health Service (UHS) and Tenet Healthcare (high school) that all operate outpatient care facilities.
Tina Deng, lead medical devices analyst at GlobalData, said that more and more orthopedic surgeries – especially total joint replacements – are happening in outpatients or ASCs to open up more hospital beds. She added that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are asking for fewer procedures to be performed on an inpatient basis.
Since ASCs are smaller facilities than hospitals with smaller operating spaces, orthopedic devices are being developed taking this into account, as well as remote control capabilities.
Deng noted that Stryker (NYSE:SYK) is a leader in the field when it comes to launching a Business exclusively for ASC back in 2020.
DePuy Synthes, the orthopedic division of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), is another company to keep an eye on thanks to their longstanding expertise in the field and their experience working with ASC.
The GlobalData report also highlights the growing number of robotic-assisted surgeries this year. They are used in surgeries including partial knee replacement, total knee replacement, and total hip replacement, providing more consistent and accurate results.
Deng says that while the general surgical robot market is largely dominated by Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), maker of the da Vinci surgical system, major orthopedic device manufacturers are vying for a piece of the robotics market.
Companies in this space include Zimmer Biomet Holdings (ZBH), Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), and Smith & Nephew (SNN).
During the November 2022 Q3 earnings call, Zimmer Biomet (ZBH) say 30% of its robots are entering the ASC. The company added that ~60% of the reconstruction could be done in the ASC by 2028.
Global Data Project that the orthopedic robotic surgery systems market will be $984 million worldwide by 2023 with an annual growth rate of 25.6%.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are also expected to improve outcomes delivered by orthopedic robots. In July 2022, Zimmer Biomet (ZBH) announced a partnership with New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery to innovation center development AI in joint replacement robots.