10. Manufacturers of Medical Technology: Servitization in Regulated Markets

The markets for medical equipment are highly regulated. Innovative technologies must be tested extensively before receiving official authorisation, hospitals’ investment budgets are restricted because of cost reductions in health systems, and the application of medical technologies requires a doctoral admission. These frame conditions set specific barriers and triggers for the servitization of medical technology manufacturers. Hence, in this chapter, the state of the art of servitization in the German medical technology industry is illustrated. The results from three empirical studies provide the basis for this summary. The findings indicate that specific patterns of servitization can be observed, partially in spite of and partially induced from regulations. Advanced services have reached a remarkable level and serve predominantly as openers for introducing innovative technology into markets, characterised by the small investment budgets of customers. The potential for stimulating process improvements through advanced services is limited because the operation of medical equipment necessarily remains assigned to customers’ physicians.