Selling The Portfolio Flashcards
What makes BSC different?
That depends doc! We have many ways we are different from the competition …. what are you looking for in an SCS provider/company? Are you looking for ways to reduce charge burden, using combination therapy when programming your patients, having a full MRI conditional portfolio, having multiple and different therapy options that is customized to each patients varying anatomy, or are you looking for reliable and lasting pain relief for your patients? Tell me what’s important to you…..
What is illumina 3D?
Illumina 3D is an anatomically guided neural targeting algorithm, in its simplest form. In SCS, we know that it’s important to have precise targeting when stimulating a patient. Illumina 3D accounts for the relative lead location and the vertebral level of the leads and automatically calculates the optimal configuration of our anodes and cathodes- which allows us to precisely target and deliver optimal, customizable therapy to the patient. We know not every patient is the same - with varying anatomy, pain areas, lead placement, etc- so BSC developed the Illumina 3D algorithm to minimize the barriers or impedance that come from single source constant current systems. Illumina 3D uses Multiple Independent Constant Currents… are you familiar with the difference between MICC and single source constant currents?
No, what is MICC?
MICC in its simplest form means we are able to control each contact on the lead with its own current for stimulation. When a company uses single source systems, which some of our competitors do, that means on is on and off is off…. think about it this way… your standing in a hotel lobby and there are 32 different lights above you, you can either turn them on, or you can turn them off… that’s single source… with multiple independent constant currents, those lights can each individually not only be turned on, but they can be dimmed to exactly the level of lighting you want them to project. We have so much more control of our contacts with MICC because we know the variability of patients anatomy and impedance. Have you ever seen a patient come in, leads haven’t moved, but their stimulation is no longer working? If so, How many months post op were they?
Yea yea I’ve seen them come back in, that happens with every company… what makes BSC different?
Well our goal is long term pain relief… we have a huge portfolio of therapy options back by research that was formulated to last. We believe proper neural dosing and precise pain area coverage are key in providing AND maintaining pain relief. If coverage of the pain area is not able to be established, what do your reps do? Do they increase the rate and pulse width to expand their coverage? How often do you have patients who are overstimulated, or getting stim in their anterior in their rib cage or root stim?
It happens here and there, but not often… what kind of therapies or programs does BSC offer?
Before I get into therapies and programs, and because we have so many options by being able to offer combination therapies, what are you looking for in stimulation therapies for your patients?
I’m looking for something with less charge burden…..
Yes charge burden is a common request… BSC is able to offer subperception therapies at low frequency. We learned from The PROCO and HALO studies that not only are low frequencies preferred by the patient in subperception therapies, but they also provide 3x more efficient energy usage meaning the charge burden was reduced significantly. In Halo, therapies run at 200Hz provided the greatest pain reduction AND was the most energy efficient compared to higher rates. Do you know what frequencies your current company is using to program your patients? Does overstimulation, stim in unwanted areas, or lead migration concern you with these high frequencies?
I’m looking for combination therapy…..
We all know patients respond differently to SCS. With BSC’s ability to provide combination therapies, our options become a lot more precise for the patient… with combination therapy we are able to layer different waveforms in different CPS’s (running two different therapies at once), AND we are able to layer two different waveforms on the SAME CPS…. so let’s say we find that sweet spot, but patient isn’t quite responding to FAST, we can layer contour to wash in in the background. Another benefit of being able to layer multiple therapies is they can be utilized sequentially which can minimize habituation….how do you treat your patients that are no longer responding to their current therapy?
What is FAST?
Fast is our paresthesia guided subperception therapy that targets the dorsal column using surround inhibition…. sounds technical, but by being able to selectively engage a different mechanism of action on the dorsal column, we are able to see results in minutes. Like I mentioned, it’s paresthesia guided- so we use paresthesia to find the precise coverage of the patients pain areas. FAST also selectively recruits inhibitory fibers rather than excitatory and inhibitory which is common with traditional SCS. Then we use proper neural dosing to take the therapy to sub perceptions using active waveforms at super low frequencies… and if you remember … low frequency means less charge burden and more efficient energy use. This program is available on our wavewriter devices… have you ever been able to see a patient get up without their cane in minutes after programming?
What is Contour?
You know the saying driving is for show and putting is for doe? Well that’s how I like to think of FAST and Contour. Fast is pain relief in MINUTES, that’s awesome and it’s immediate results produces a big WOW factor …. with contour we make that birdie putt for the patient… Contour is a paresthesia independent subperception therapy that delivers broad coverage and covers the patients variability in lead migration and anatomy. And although it’s not immediate, it’s built to be meaningful and maintain. With Contour, we can create up to 3 fields that expand across 11 contacts for coverage. And instead of stimulating the dorsal column, we target the dorsal horn. I know you know the dorsal horn is more excitable than the dorsal column, so what that means for the patient is they don’t have to use more energy to stimulate. This therapy is great for those hard to target pain areas, pain at multiple vertebral levels, and any chance of lead migration. And back to my golf analogy, it’s one of our essential swings that keeps pain relief on par… do you know how your current waveforms adapt in order to maintain good coverage over multiple vertebral levels?
I’m looking for a one stop shop… more innovation towards technology, patient engagement, and easier to use technology for the patient. What’s new with you guys?
Our latest IPG we just launched is Wavewriter Alpha, and it gives us the ability to do pretty much anything and everything in order to meet the patients needs…. wavewriter alpha allows us to use FAST AND CONTOUR at their fullest potential, running schedules in the background to see what works best for the patient. WWA also comes in 16 and 32 contact is is Full Body MRI conditional with all our leads including paddles. Not only that, but we have both contact options in both a rechargeable IPG and a Primary cell ipg. But where we really have stepped our game up is by adding Bluetooth technology to everything… programming is faster, Interop testing is faster and easier… and lastly WWA is goes full circle through our Cognita solutions… this includes: patient engagement, patient finder, physician engagement and locator, myscs videos and app, pre-auth portal, and more… the goal of cognita solutions with WWA is to Identify, Manage and maintain the patients. We are more than just a stimulator company. What additional solutions does your current SCS company provide?
