What does the orthopaedic services market landscape look like in Europe?

The European market is fragmented, with most incumbents operating within national borders. This is primarily driven by vast differences in regulatory requirements, healthcare insurance and reimbursement policies across the EU. Furthermore, we see large differences in healthcare system efficiencies between European countries. In some countries, complex procedures (e.g. hip surgery) are handled through the outpatient process, while in others they require multiple nights of hospital stay. Across the board, European incumbents have to cope with steep price increases for treatment-specific materials, whereas procedure budgets follow the same trend but with a considerable time lag. As a result, players’ profitability is already under pressure, with patients being more likely to postpone future non-urgent care as prices catch up while their financial situation deteriorates.