The Beat How Beth McCombs and BD Are Using Connected Intelligence to Transform Patient Care
About Beth McCombs:
Elizabeth “Beth” McCombs is the executive vice president and chief technology officer of BD, where she leads the company’s global research and development organization. She oversees the full spectrum of innovation—from early-stage concept development to product launch—and ensures the continued advancement of BD’s existing portfolio. As a member of the BD Executive Leadership Team, she plays a central role in shaping the company’s long-term technology and growth strategy. Beth joined BD in 2019 as Senior Vice President of R&D for the BD Medical segment, co-leading portfolio strategy and major growth initiatives. Before joining BD, she spent over two decades at Johnson & Johnson, including serving as Vice President of R&D for Ethicon, the company’s surgical devices franchise. She holds both a B.S. and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Things You’ll Learn:
- BD approaches innovation by deeply studying clinical workflows and ensuring new technologies solve meaningful, scalable problems. Real-world evidence and clinical validation are built into the process from the start.
- Connected medication management solutions can eliminate waste, prevent errors, and free up clinical resources. Tracking drugs from the central pharmacy to the bedside improves safety and system-level efficiency.
- Vascular access improvements achieved through product design and standardized training dramatically reduced cost, blood exposure, and catheter failure rates. This proves that outcomes hinge on combining the right device with the right practices.
- AI and machine-learning capabilities, such as predicting hypotension during cardiac surgery, aim to reduce complications, costs, and length of stay. These tools evolve by partnering with health systems to measure real-world impact.
- BD Incada represents a shift to cloud-based, interoperable, AI-enabled infrastructure that unifies data across entire health systems. This foundation accelerates the future of personalized care and integrated device ecosystems.
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