Medical Device Marketing Is Science Translation
- Shannon Lantzy
- 4 hours ago
- 6 min read
Joy Duemke spent 15 years at Terumo figuring out how to actually put patients at the center of innovation
When Joy Duemke tells you about medical device marketing, she doesn't talk about ad campaigns or jingles. She talks about looking at data, drawing hypotheses, testing them, and ensuring every statement is scientifically relevant.
"In med device, marketing's closer to science," Joy explained during our conversation. "You're a translator for science in a lot of ways."
Joy is the Director of Marketing in North America at Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies. She's been there for over 15 years, moving through six different roles—from marketing communications to medical affairs to strategic marketing. That progression isn't typical, and it's given her a perspective that most medtech companies struggle to build: how to systematically incorporate patient voices from R&D through commercialization.
[00:03:10] Taking a Step Down to Solve Problems That Matter
Before Terumo, Joy worked in software marketing and financial derivatives. She took a step down to get into healthcare because she wanted to reconnect with a product she really cared about and customers whose problems she could solve.
"I think good marketing is a service," she said. The crossover made sense—financial derivatives are highly technical, requiring you to resonate with a very technical audience while still being creative and strategic.
At Terumo, she started in marketing communications, learning what she calls "cat herding"—managing too few resources and too many things to say in a complex market. She became known for something the company valued: learning agility.
[00:04:30] What Learning Agility Actually Means
I asked Joy what learning agility means to her.
"The ability to jump into something and ask the right questions and learn as much as you can about a certain topic, then translate that into something meaningful that actually impacts your job," she explained. "It's being able to get to the pertinent details that most impact your ability to drive whatever objective you have."
That skill set led Terumo to move her into medical affairs—a role that sits at the intersection of clinical evidence, regulatory requirements, and commercial strategy. She learned to sit next to physicians at scientific conferences, asking questions and living in that overlap between product knowledge and clinical expertise.
[00:09:25] Every Marketing Claim Gets Filed Like Engineering Documentation
Here's something most people outside medtech don't understand: every claim you make about a medical device gets vetted by lawyers, regulators, and product experts before it goes public. Those marketing materials get filed like engineering logs.
"What you say about that product opens up your company to the same risk as if you made any change to your product itself," Joy explained. "Everything external gets reviewed. Everything has to have factual substantiation. It's very traceable."
This creates a fundamentally different dynamic than consumer marketing. You can't just test messaging and iterate quickly. You have to build the scientific foundation first, then translate it in ways that resonate with your audience—whether that's physicians, hospital administrators, or patients.
[00:11:30] How Real Patient Engagement Happens
When Joy talks about patient engagement, she's not describing focus groups or surveys. She's describing partnerships.
The Bet on Blood program, which she helped develop with the National Alliance for Sickle Cell Centers, is making blood therapy accessible to sickle cell patients who need it. This isn't a marketing initiative—it's a framework that helps over 100 global marketers incorporate patient voices into everything from R&D to market access strategies.
"We need to listen to the patient truly," Joy said. "Not 'here's my idea, what do you think?' Really listen to the patients and what they need. Work backwards from what we're trying to accomplish for certain groups and what are the right-sized efforts to make that happen."
This approach requires intentionality. You have to build the infrastructure to capture patient insights, translate them into product requirements, and maintain those connections throughout the development cycle.
[00:16:45] The Middleware Problem Nobody Talks About
Joy pointed out something I've observed across medtech but rarely hear articulated: hardware innovation consistently outpaces software in medical devices.
"The hardware keeps getting better and better, but the middleware that connects it to hospital systems lags behind," she explained. This creates friction in adoption—even when the clinical value is clear, the systems integration challenges slow everything down.
It's a reminder that innovation isn't just about the device itself. It's about the entire ecosystem it has to operate within.
[00:22:10] Why Go-to-Market Plans Should Fit in an Elevator Pitch
I asked Joy about her framework for developing go-to-market strategies. Her test is simple: if your value proposition is a page long, you've complicated it.
"Think elevator pitch," she said. "Not what can I say, but what should I say based on what truly matters to this audience."
This discipline comes from her background in financial derivatives, where you had to make complex instruments understandable to investors who needed to assess risk quickly. The same principle applies in medtech—physicians and administrators need to understand value fast, in the context of competing priorities.
[00:26:35] FOAMED: Democratizing Medical Education
Joy is actively involved in FOAMed (Free Open Access Medical Education), creating educational content on platforms like YouTube and Instagram. This represents a shift in how medical knowledge gets shared—from behind paywalls and conference registrations to accessible formats that clinicians can reference when they need it.
"Just-in-time learning," Joy called it. Clinicians can refresh critical skills right before performing procedures, accessing educational content that helps them deliver better care.
This democratization of medical education creates new opportunities for device companies to support clinical adoption—not through traditional sales rep training, but through accessible educational resources that build competency over time.
[00:35:20] What Medtech Companies Get Wrong About Clinician Engagement
I asked Joy what she wishes medtech companies understood better about engaging clinicians in strategic conversations.
"Actually invite us in," she said. "Don't just ask us to validate what you've already decided. Involve us in the strategic conversations from the beginning."
Too often, companies develop strategies internally, then bring in clinical advisors to rubber-stamp decisions that have already been made. Real engagement means including clinicians when you're still defining the problem, not just when you're refining the solution.
[00:38:15] Her Advice for Regulators: Trust Your Gut
Joy has worked closely with FDA and other regulatory bodies throughout her career. When I asked what advice she'd give to regulators, her answer surprised me.
"Trust your gut—professionally and personally," she said.
She explained that regulators often have instincts based on years of experience reviewing submissions and understanding clinical contexts. Those instincts matter, even when you're also relying on data and formal frameworks. The best regulatory decisions balance analytical rigor with professional judgment.
[00:40:05] Navigating Tariffs and the Current Economic Moment
Joy was candid about the current challenges facing medtech. Tariffs, regardless of political perspectives, create economic pressures for hospitals that ripple through the entire supply chain.
"This isn't an opportunity to profit from," she said. "This is something that we as an industry need to carry to ensure that patients can still get care."
That trust relationship with customers—built over years through transparent communication and patient-centered collaboration—becomes essential during difficult economic periods.
[00:42:00] Her Take on AI Strategy
When I asked Joy about AI in medtech, she offered a framework I haven't heard articulated this clearly before.
"I'm seeing a lot of companies say 'what's our AI strategy?' In my opinion, you still need to stick with what's your strategy and then where does AI help. It is not a thing unto itself."
She compared the wrong approach to "running around with a hammer and finding things to hit." AI should serve your existing strategy—enhancing capabilities you've already identified as important—rather than becoming the strategy itself.
[00:45:10] Listen to Patients Truly
Joy's final advice: "Listen to the patient truly and not like, here's my idea, what do you think? Really listen to the patients and what they need. We get so wrapped around process and data. Work backwards from what we're trying to accomplish for certain groups and what are the right-sized efforts to make that happen."
She reminded me that it's easy to complicate everything, especially now. "We have to be careful that we don't get so wrapped up that there is no innovation anymore."
The pattern Joy demonstrates—moving from marketing communications to medical affairs to strategic marketing—creates exactly the kind of cross-functional perspective medtech needs. She understands the regulatory constraints, the clinical requirements, the patient needs, and the commercial realities. That combination is what allows her to build frameworks like Bet on Blood that actually work.
Marketing in medtech isn't about promotion. It's about translation—taking scientific evidence and clinical value and making it understandable to everyone who needs to make decisions about adopting, reimbursing, or using these technologies. Joy's career shows what that looks like when done well.
Listen to the full episode: [Inside MedTech Innovation w. Joy Duemke]
Connect with Joy Duemke:
Website: https://www.terumobct.com
Connect with Shannon Lantzy: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonlantzy/ Website: https://www.shannonlantzy.com/ This post was generated from the full episode transcript with AI assistance to capture and synthesize the key insights from the conversation.
