Benchmarking Medical Device Quality 2014-15: Staffing and Budget Allocations

STUDY OVERVIEW

Medical device and diagnostics companies continually strive to ensure quality and safety in their company's products. But, at the same time, quality leaders must also keep an eye on costs. Balancing these goals is a challenging task, especially with the labor-intensive nature of the quality function as well as the cost-intensive activities of the quality role.

Best Practices, LLC undertook this study to help quality leaders better understand quality staffing levels among their peers and the level of cost associated with key quality activities. The study includes metrics around total number of quality FTEs, past and future trends in quality staffing, span of control from managers to VPs, quality FTE cost, and allocation percentage for key quality activities. Research findings provide evidence-based benchmarks around these issues so quality leaders can compare their efforts with industry peers.

This study contains a Large Company Segment (LCS) that is made up of 11 companies.

KEY TOPICS

• Quality Staffing Levels
• Budget Allocation for Key Quality Activities

• Total number of FTEs in your Quality function at the end of 2014
• Percent change in Quality FTE count over past three years
• Quality staffing level change anticipated over next 12-24 months
• Average number of direct reports at each supervisory level in Quality organization
• Quality cost per Quality FTE
• Number of UPNs/SKUs per Quality FTE
• Number of Clinical Quality assurance FTEs
• Ration of clinical Quality staff to total Clinical headcount
• Percentage of total Quality budget allocated to critical Quality channels
  

• Recent Quality Staffing Trends: Over the past three years, 57% of participants, including 56% of the LCS, saw an increase in the number of FTEs in the Quality function. The median increase was 2% (TBC) to 7% (LCS). Only one company decreased its Quality FTEs, and it was an outlier with a 27% staff reduction due to extensive process redesign.

• Best Practices, LLC designed and deployed a custom benchmarking survey to executives at 21 leading Medical Device companies.  This study has two segments: Total Benchmark Class (TBC) made up of 21 companies and a Large Company Segment (LCS) that is made up of 11 companies.

Industries Profiled:
Medical Device; Pharmaceutical; Health Care


Companies Profiled:
3M Pharmaceuticals; DePuy Synthes; Baxter Healthcare; Atri Cure; Beckman Coulter; BMC Medical; Becton Dickinson; Bio Tek; Boston Scientific; Cook Medical; Covidien; Endologix; Edwards Lifesciences; Helmer Scientific; Ethicon; GE Healthcare; Medtronic; BARD; Haemonetics Corporation; Invacare Corporation; Lake Region Medical

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