Patient Survey Rates Coloplast Best In Corporate Reputation For The Fourth Straight Year

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Coloplast has the best reputation among the industry's 28 leading medical device companies, according to a survey by the independent British research organization PatientView. A total of 463 patient organizations in 58 countries were surveyed about their views on 28 medical device companies. The US represented 8.9% of the patient groups.

Coloplast emerged as the overall winner for the fourth straight year and takes the top spot in four of six indicators. Coloplast was ranked ahead of competitors like Medtronic (3rd place), St. Jude Medical (4th) and ConvaTec (5th).

The survey measures the reputation of the medical device industry overall, and respondent patient groups were asked to rate each company in terms of six indicators:

• Does the company have an effective patient-centered strategy?
• Does the company provide high-quality information for patients?
• The company's record on patient safety
• Are the products useful to patients?
• The company's record of transparency with external stakeholders
• Does the company act with integrity?

Recognition by the users
"Historically, users have been at the center of what we do at Coloplast, and we have a strong ambition to create impactful improvements in the lives of people who use our products in the US. To us the best kind of recognition is that from our users and we're proud and very excited to be given this recognition for the fourth straight year," said Ed Veome, Senior Vice President, Chronic Care US.

Mr. Veome continued: "We're pursuing a strategy that puts the consumer in the center and we want to deliver innovative, discreet products and services that make the everyday lives of our users easier. We can only do that by listening to their needs and involving them in our product innovation."

About Coloplast
Coloplast employs more than 500 people in the US and has its US headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Coloplast develops products and services that make life easier for people with very personal and private medical conditions. The four major business areas are ostomy care, urology and continence care and wound and skin care.

Globally, Coloplast employs more than 10,000 with its products being sold in more than 100 countries around the world. Coloplast is listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, part of the NASDAQ OMX Group.

FACTS ABOUT THE PATIENTVIEW SURVEY

Top 5 overall rankings in 2014-15 survey

1. Coloplast A/S
2. Roche LifeSciences
3. Medtronic
4. St. Jude Medical 
5. ConvaTec

The 28 companies surveyed were:

3M Healthcare
Abbott Laboratories
Alcon
Bausch + Lomb
Baxter International
B. Braun Melsungen AG
Becton, Dickinson and Company
Biotronik International
Boston Scientific
Coloplast A/S
ConvaTec
Fresenius Medical Care
GE Healthcare
Hartmann Group
Johnson & Johnson
Kimberly-Clark
Medtronic, Inc
Molnlycke Health Care
Novo Nordisk A/S
Olympus Medical Business
Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Inc
Philips Healthcare
Roche Diagnostics
Sanofi
Siemens Healthcare
Smith & Nephew
St. Jude Medical
Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation

The 463 respondent patient groups cover a wide range of specializations, including neurology, cancer, diabetes and mental health. The largest contingent (10.2%) were from Germany, 9.5% were from Spain while 9.3% were from the UK and 8.9% of the patient groups were from the US.  The survey was conducted in the period from March to June 2015.

The survey measures the reputation of the medical device industry among the respondent patient groups, who were asked to rate each company in terms of six indicators:

• Does the company have an effective patient-centered strategy?
• Does the company provide high-quality information for patients?
• The company's record on patient safety
• Are the products useful to patients?
• The company's record of transparency with external stakeholders
• Does the company act with integrity?

SOURCE Coloplast