Tech-Health-Explore: Breaking Down the Companies Tracking Our Bodies: Medtronic Part 5, the Diabetes Group

Exploring the World’s Largest Medical Device Maker

As a rule, we follow the technological advancements of corporate giants in tech health to help inform those of us individuals choosing to define for ourselves who we are and what we want to be in a world of powerful corporate and governmental elites. That means knowing the world and those tracking us, good and bad.

Incredible advancements are made every day by health companies seeking to do good in the world, no doubt. However, we need to follow and examine them to enhance our own capabilities and positioning. We are not victims, we are active agents in our lives. Our Health is Our Own!

This week we return to our fifth installment in our investigation of the world’s largest device maker: Medtronic (Full Disclosure, we are long Medtronic, which means we are invested for the long term with this company). As we have already done a mini-introduction, a deeper first step into understanding this company, an exploration of the cardiac subdivision, a quick shot analysis of minimally invasive therapies unit, and a deep dive on the restorative therapies division, this week we turn to the final segment recognized within this company and its smallest, the Diabetes Group, coming in at just $2.4Billion in the revenue pie for Medtronic.

Segment Under Review: Restorative Therapies Group

While it may be the smallest group with the Goliath that is Medtronic, the Diabetes Group shouldn’t be counted out at it is a fascinating subdivision engaged in a unique approach to medical tech: the social angle.

A Core Principle

As we have seen in much of the rest of Medtronic, the device maker is very much centered on the patient’s relationship to the tech and the inter-connectedness of peripheral technologies to that relationship. When it comes to the Diabetes Group, their promoted aim is much the same. In their YouTube Group About Us page, the division announces its aim as to “empower you to take control of your diabetes while giving you flexibility and peace of mind.” The fact that we point out the YouTube page right of the front is not done at random, but we’ll get there in a moment.

First, the Tech

As we see in the above, with much of the world the diabetes group is dialed into your pocket. More specifically, your smartphone.

Their goal: flexibility and convenience. Not only that, but to be made available to the whole family in an all-ages welcome kinda approach (save for those under 2). Their pump is an automated system whereby the device will adjust itself “every five minutes” as underlined in the graphic above.

The CARELINKTM™ Connect App is one of the most distinctive attributes of this system. Where we would expect to find insulin-related delivery devices and trackers (Continuous Glucose Monitors – CGMs) for diabetes, a way to collect, store, observe and analyze data, and a wide application, one of the most unusual aspects is that they provide a solution too built on expanding access for up to five people. Not just you and your doctor anymore. In addition, they are building software upgrades into the package for continuous connectivity.

Building a Patient-Focused Community for Med Tech

Perhaps the most interesting aspect is the move toward building a socially connected community of users. While the YouTube page once again reminds us that, “Medtronic does not practice medicine or provide medical services and these videos should not be considered medical advice.” It does ask the Diabetes community to jump in and share ideas presumably for product development.

Not to limit their offerings, Medtronic also offers five specific ways to access their community features through YouTube:

• Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1Do7hvL​
• Instagram: http://bit.ly/2garwv6​
• Twitter: http://bit.ly/1EUCQhA​
• LOOP blog: http://bit.ly/1zfAVnv​ WORKING Link Update HERE:
• YouTube: http://bit.ly/166CcCg

Scouring around those sites one thing popped out, how helpful and impactful the technologies provided have become. Like the following we found on their Twitter links through the #MedtronicAmbassador links on their homepage:

Clawing through our high-tech, low life world its still nice to see when a child’s life is enhanced through tech!

Finally, An Observation

While digging through all the materials provided by Medtronic on this fourth group one interesting thing of note that we discovered without much additional detail was the partnership listed for this group: Blackstone.

Perhaps it’s nothing but am always fascinated by investment in medical companies as strategic partners when those partners don’t have specific ties to a particular medical issue at hand. For instance, The Foundry Half Moon Medical is an actual medical device incubator and has worked with transcatheters specifically, therefore making perfect sense as a partner.

Blackstone however does have an investment focus in the life sciences but does not seem to offer publicly, at least on their website, any specific information on how the strategic partnership could be beneficial beyond access to capital.

Don’t get me wrong access to liquidity (an easily accessible cash flow) is always important for these big corporate players, but as so much of Medtronic’s story is focused around patient-centered outcomes and other partnerships seem to center on the tech and the issues at hand this one simply stands out as a bit, different if you will.

Closing Thoughts on the Fourth & Final Division

We realize the processes involved in healthcare are far more complicated than we present here, however, we see possibilities that are very real nonetheless and we look forward to seeing so much more in our exploratory journey through this company. And hope to give our audience the tools to help bring a bit of understanding of the different facets of technology in health along the way.

The Diabetes Group for Medtronic may be the smallest of the bunch but certainly impactful in its own right and making moves toward societal integration with tech. While there are some interesting connections that exist with this particular unit that we haven’t found elsewhere (not to say they don’t exist), we did also find that this unit seems wholly focused on improving healthcare for the patient, even if they “do not practice medicine or provide medical services.”

Join us next week as we wrap up our explorations of Medtronic as we look to see what the broader, interested community has to say and what the latest news is on the World’s largest device medical device maker that doesn’t practice medicine or provide medical services. Sorry, we just can’t get over that, yeah, yeah, we know it’s legal speak, but come on! We look forward to the last stage of our journey together into the world’s largest Medical Device Maker. See you next time.