3.4 Service Providers in the Medical Device Sector Structure, Employees, Fields of Activity and Turnover
As with any other industrial sector, medical device companies are in need of a professional service environment. With new challenges in the healthcare system, there is also a steady demand for service providers, especially when it comes to tackling digitization. Luckily, Austria can be proud of its highly specialized infrastructure, which delivers the support needed. In 2014, the survey listed a growing number of 22 companies that offer different services of special interest to the medical device industry (2012: 15 companies). This increase of firms is partly attributed to the fact that the survey in 2014 analyzed in more detail the commercial activity of the service field in the medical device sector. The companies differ dramatically from one another in both size and what they offer. On the one hand, some are huge enterprises employing more than 1,000 workers. On the other hand, there are some start-ups with just a handful of staff.
Small companies represent the majority These smaller companies in particular occupy some very exciting niches. One, for example, has devised an efficient scoring system for polysomnography data to improve the diagnoses of sleep disorders. Altogether, the service providers accounted for 2,280 employees in 2014. Compared to 2012 (2,038 employees), this slight increase is mainly due to the growing number of companies. The majority of nine firms are run by no more than ten people (40.9%). Seven companies have between 10 and 49 people on the payroll (31.8%). A total of six service providers work with more than 50 employees. Two firms respectively have a workforce of either between 100 and 249 people, or more than 249 people.
9.1% 9.1%
40.9%
Number of employees > 249
9.1%
100 – 249 50 – 99 10 – 49 < 10
31.8%
Figure 14: Size structure of service providers in the medical device sector in 2014
The segment of washing and processing hospital textiles and clothing constitutes another major field of activity as it is an immensely important task for an efficient and qualitydriven healthcare system. Two heavyweights in the sector are settled in Austria. Other companies have addressed information management in hospitals or provide medtech-specific consulting focusing on technology evaluation and development, as well as business development. Representing a direct link between service provision and medtech business, one specialist offers producer-independent maintenance services for medical devices large and small. In 2014, service providers in the sector did business worth 315.5 million euros. Compared to 2012, this represents a plus of 12%. Given the relatively small total number of companies, the figure underlines the economic importance for the medical device sector and Austria’s industry as a whole.
From data processing to hospital garments The areas of expertise are so varied that it is difficult to make coherent analyses between these companies. In general, electronic data processing and software analyses are important business areas for service providers. 2012
2014
Number of service providers in the medical device sector
15
22
Number of employees of service providers in the medical device sector
2,038
2,280
Turnover of service providers in the medical device sector
EUR 281.5m
EUR 315.5m
Table 16: Key figures of the service providers in the medical device sector 2012, 2014
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