Getting the Mix Right: Recruiting 40 PAD Specialists Who Reflect the US IVL Market
Why balancing vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists, and interventional cardiologists shaped the client’s learning.
A device company wanted to understand the opportunity in intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) for peripheral arterial disease (PAD): how physicians use it, how they view current suppliers, and what a stent graft manufacturer offering IVL might mean for them.
The recruit was designed to be roughly representative of the US market, aiming for about 50% vascular surgeons, 25% interventional radiologists and 25% interventional cardiologists. Criteria also required:
More than 20 PAD procedures a month
At least 80% having tried or currently using IVL for vessel preparation
At least 25% regularly using covered stent grafts for PAD, at least two a month
Interviews were double-blinded, 45 minutes long, and held by Zoom.
The final sample was 40 US physicians: 20 vascular surgeons, 11 interventional cardiologists, and nine interventional radiologists. They averaged about 24 endovascular PAD procedures a month. Most were hospital-based, with a few in office-based labs or ambulatory surgery centers.
The IVL and stent graft quotas worked together. Most physicians could speak from IVL experience, while a defined group could explain how IVL relates to stent graft use, a central question for the client.
Double-blinding kept views on current suppliers candid.
The study gave the client a clear view of IVL use by anatomy, on and off label, and how physicians would react to a new entrant.
