Conned Altrus

Heard this is close to launch and people claim it's a game changer.

 

OMG can't get any samples unless customer buys them. HTF do they think this is going to work? What are others doing? Shit Coviden with their new versital instrument and all we can do is repackage the Starion??? Who the hell thought up this one?

 

The same pathetic leadership that has been in Centenniel since they launched the project 5 years ago...excuse me...the same arrogant, pathetic leadership that has been there.

 

Nooooooo...they couldn't do a deal with SurgRX when they came calling and could have been had on the cheap. Never mind that the Enseal could have been engineered to work with the System 5000 or piggybacked to make a cool alternative to the Force Triad.

We can do better developing it on our own. SurgRx wasn't good enough for Conmed however it was good enough for a small company called J&J.

Joe Corasanti should axe the prime suspects at Electrosurgery. They haven't gotten this right and they sure have dragged a bunch of reps down.

JC doesn't have the huevos

 

My understanding is that Enseal had issues at the time of their sale.
No...we do not want the unit tied to a ESU to compete with the Triad. You dont need a 2 for 1 unit.
Move forward, there is plenty room for improvement on each of the competitive devices. And that is what Altrus will do.
Everything is just where it needs to be.

 

Unless you're cheaper or can do much larger tissue bundles, where's the play here? Is less thermal spread a justification for a new box in the OR? If Starion went nowhere (although part of that is due to Pentax), why should this be any different?

 

Surgeons are saying that it doesn't cut well. The cutting is very technique dependent. No way this product takes any market share. Come on Shawn, where is our totem pole that shows no sales?

 

Yeah , but it seals like a mo fo. So easy in the hand...Cut has and will improve.... new product folks, will get tweaked for perfection. No perfect sealer now anyways. Starion? Please!!! nice try.

 

Too late, kids. Ligasure will always be two steps ahead of your latest improvement.

 

Has anyone heard any more info in the field on how this is performing?

 

At this point we are just giving it away, only 2 reps have really sold it!

 

Is it performing poorly or are hospitals fed up with the amount of generators that are in the OR room already? Are they giving them away as long as a certain number of hand pieces are sold? How much are they trying to sell the generator for?

It does look like altrus has a pretty cool product, but like others have mentioned... it might be too late.

 

It's having some issues dissecting. The real issue is cost. The laproscopic market is at a price point of around $450 for ligasure, Harmonic, Enseal, and Gyrus. Conmed is way more than that. Surgeons are not able to demand products like they were 5 years ago which means if it isn't far superior or less expensive, you will have a very difficult time getting it through VAC. The last issue is the shift in open procedures. The one area I could see this device working in is open procedures because the cost would be similar to Impact or G2. The problem is that the open market is crumbling due to minimally invasive surgery and cases being moved to the robot. The last issue is employee moral. This is the most serious issue, with top reps last year making under $115,000 an the top rep in the country making $135,000, reps are looking for new jobs or just not working. Very few reps made over $100,000 last year (this was due to a new compensation program that took the emphasis off of capital equipment sales. The top sales rep 3 years ago topped 300!

 

So true in regards to the capital comp plan. Spending 2-3 weeks working an ESU eval and making $600 off of a $10,000 + sale just isn't right.

 

Yeah, charging a premium for an instrument that Starion had five years ago isn't really the revenue generator we'd all hoped for.

 

I saw this device in the field. I noticed that it has a manual and automatic mode. Does anyone know how these two modes work and how they differ?

 

How is it working out getting hospitals to pay for vessel sealing sample handpieces before you do an evaluation? Are you reps still having to give the customer a bunch of free goods under the table to get a PO like you had to with the Smoke Evac pencil? Nothing like having to play the game to keep overbearing, unrealistic Managers off your back!!!

 

It would be tough to give 700.00 worth of free product. I do agree that reps did that with smoke, but that is alot of demo product to get one case.

 

I gave away piles of Argon handpieces to get hospitals to stock the Goldvac. Playing the Conmed game and looking good on the scoreboard. For all the time and focus, Goldvac is a joke.

 

What is the most recent status on this product? Is it selling? Do the Doc's want it? What advantage does it have over the competition??? Need some answers quick as I'm interviewing for a sales position for the ES division. Yes I did ask the hiring manager these questions and he gave me alot of fluff I need to know what reality is?????