Medtech braces for shift away from one-and-done products

Circularity may offset these pressures whilst creating new revenue streams.

Medical technology companies are facing mounting pressure to move away from the traditional linear product lifecycle as regulation, procurement standards, and end-of-life responsibility shift toward manufacturers.

Three market shifts are driving the change, according to a Kearney report. First, care is moving closer to patients, with the global home healthcare market projected to exceed $1.5t by 2035, and remote patient monitoring is expected to reach $137b by 2033.

In the United States, about 71 million people used remote patient monitoring as of 2025.

Kearney noted that this decentralisation is straining waste management systems built around large hospitals.

Healthcare plastic waste already exceeds 2 million tonnes annually across major markets, and demand for disposables has more than doubled in the past 15 years.

Second, medtech firms are shifting from one-time hardware sales to as-a-service and outcome-based models, which shift financing, utilisation, and life-cycle cost risk onto manufacturers.

“Idle or poorly serviceable assets erode margins under these models,” Kearney said.

Third, the rise of software-defined, artificial intelligence-enabled devices is shortening replacement cycles when hardware cannot support new software demands, risking stranded assets and higher costs for customers.

The analysis argues circularity—reuse, refurbishment, repair, and modular design—can offset these pressures whilst creating new revenue streams, rather than functioning purely as a sustainability initiative.

Cited models include consumer-goods strategies such as razor handle or blade systems, where durable components stay in use whilst replaceable parts drive recurring purchases.

Kearney recommends four actions for MedTech leaders, including quantifying the financial case for circularity before the sustainability case; designing products and packaging for modularity, disassembly, and upgradeability; building reverse-logistics and remanufacturing supply chains; and piloting circular models on select product lines before scaling.

Lastly, the report frames circularity as a competitive differentiator rather than a compliance exercise, positioning early movers to better serve cost-constrained health systems, support distributed care, and retain greater control over assets, materials, and customer relationships as the industry shifts away from one-time capital sales toward service-led, data-driven business models.