Every second, an exponential amount of medtech data is generated. The average hospital produces roughly 50 petabytes of data annually — more than twice the data housed in the Library of Congress. Driven by the rise of wearables and sensors, genetic testing, and patient-generated health data, combined with the near-universal use of digitized medical records, the annual growth rate of medtech data is projected to rise faster than in any other industry in the next decade.
The critical medtech talent shortage
Gathering, cleaning, aggregating, and interpreting the huge amount of medtech data is an increasingly complex task. It's partly the reason a whopping 97% of healthcare data goes unused. Generating and mining meaningful insights from high-volume, high-velocity, and high-variety data requires advanced AI systems — and experienced engineering teams to build and manage them.
As the healthcare data explosion expands, the need for skilled engineers is far outpacing the supply. Soaring demand creates a highly competitive market where businesses struggle to hire and retain qualified professionals: 47% of healthcare organizations say they don't have the budget for improved healthcare data technology, and 58% agree that staffing is a significant barrier to modernizing.
To overcome this barrier, forward-thinking companies are turning to nearshoring solutions to close skill gaps. But is nearshoring the right solution for a highly regulated industry like medtech?
Nearshoring risks medtech companies often overlook
Nearshoring involves outsourcing operations to nearby countries. Amid the growing tech talent crisis, many leading companies use nearshoring as a strategic tool to access expert developers, reduce costs, and boost innovation. Latin America is emerging as a top destination for nearshoring due to the high caliber of tech talent it offers.
Security risks. Entrusting sensitive data to a third party is inherently risky. If a nearshoring provider’s systems are not aligned with the security standards of the hiring company, the discrepancy can expose sensitive data to threats and cyber attacks.
Compliance concerns. Safeguarding sensitive healthcare data isn’t just a matter of safety — it's a regulatory requirement. When handling protected health information (PHI), medtech companies must comply with strict laws like The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which provides clear rules about the storage and sharing of PHI.
Ensuring regulatory compliance can become trickier when collaborating with external teams. Partnering with a nearshore supplier with stringent policies, procedures, and security measures is vital to avoiding penalties and legal headaches.
Limited quality control. Maintaining quality consistency across continents is a challenge. Quality control can be especially difficult if there are differences in expectations, communication issues, and cultural barriers between the two companies. Quality control is important in all industries but particularly in medtech, where a project's outcome, timing, and security can impact patient care.
Intellectual Property (IP) protection. Protecting intellectual property (IP) is especially important in the medtech industry, where innovations can save lives and revolutionize care. Nearshoring to countries with differing IP laws and enforcement methods can make a company more vulnerable to IP theft and infringement, particularly if the staffing provider doesn't have reliable IP safeguards.
Medtech case study: TruePill
The key to overcoming these risks lies in selecting the right nearshoring partner. Learn how Truepill, a leading medtech company, tackled the risks of nearshoring by partnering with Howdy.com.
The partner: Truepill
Truepill is a B2B provider of digital pharmacy services. The platform offers prescription fulfillment, telehealth services, and patient support to healthcare organizations, including lifestyle medication brands, healthcare payers, and providers.
The challenge: Building a sophisticated AI-powered system
Amid rapid growth, Truepill was ready to replace its standardized commercial pharmacy management platform with a powerful, internal system. To build a new AI-powered software from the ground up, the company needed to expand its engineering team — fast.
But Truepill couldn't use just any generalized development team. The medtech company had to find experienced engineers who understood the complexities and compliance issues of the medtech industry.
The Howdy.com solution: Highly trained, experienced engineers
Truepill partnered with Howdy.com, a global hiring company with experience building high-performing Latin American tech teams. Pulling from the region's top 1% of developers, Howdy was able to source specialized professionals with experience in medtech and other highly regulated domains.
"Howdy was efficient with understanding our needs and the caliber of folks we were looking for," said Saro Iskenian, Truepill's Senior Engineering Manager.
In particular, Iskenian appreciated the medtech industry-specific guidance Howdy provided its engineers. Howdy.com onboards every employee with pertinent company- and industry-specific information, best practices and security protocols.
"Because we're in healthcare and healthcare is a little complicated in the US, all the prep work Howdy was doing helped a lot."
With the help of Howdy teammates, Truepill built the sophisticated AI-powered pharmacy management system that the brand continues to use today.
Best practices for building remote teams in medtech
The risks associated with nearshoring are noteworthy — particularly in domains that deal with sensitive information like medtech. However, these barriers can be overcome with the help of a nearshoring partner with industry experience. We review the best practices for building remote teams in medtech below.
Select the right partner.
Ensure proper implementation of regulations.
Regulations like HIPAA are location-agnostic. In other words, compliance depends on implementing robust processes, tools, and infrastructure rather than the location itself. Complying with HIPPA regulations involves selecting a nearshoring partner that follows applicable laws and maintains the same level of compliance as they would domestically.
Howdy.com goes above and beyond to ensure compliance for our HIPAA-covered partners. Our key focus is to make sure employee hardware, accounts, and access are compliant and secure.
We take the following steps:
- Every new hire receives in-depth HIPAA compliance training during their first week on the job.
- Every new hire signs acknowledgment forms to confirm their commitment to following HIPPA protocols and other security measures.
- Our supervisors perform constant follow-ups to monitor HIPAA compliance.
- Our IT department stays up-to-date with emerging trends and ever-evolving HIPPA regulations.
- We assign a personal Information Security Officer as the main point of contact for HIPAA-related matters.
Mitigate data breach risks
Whenever possible, medtech companies should keep sensitive patient data within the US and restrict access to production data. Howdy.com plays an essential role in mitigating data breach risk for our clients, assisting with proactive strategies that involve multi-layered defense systems, security audits, and continuous adaptation to new threats.
The best safeguard against data breaches is to limit human error. We conduct regular cybersecurity training for new employees and continue reinforcing best data protection practices to staff with access to sensitive data, providing updates as the newest cyber threats and vulnerabilities emerge.
Partner with Howdy.com for tailored medtech solutions
Solve the challenge of traditional medtech nearshoring while modernizing your AI architecture with Howdy.com. By sourcing, hiring, and onboarding LatAm's top 1%, we can help you build a team of seasoned engineers, experienced in the medtech sector and primed at following HIPAA standards and data privacy regulations.
Discover the Howdy.com. Learn more about our industry expertise and comprehensive hiring process in a free demo.