Ultimately, COVID-19 could change the "one-dimensional" nature of medtech sales, he said.  

That reorientation could be especially important, given that the pandemic may prompt hospitals to rethink infection prevention protocols and potential restrictions to sales rep access beyond the current moment, said Tim van Biesen, who heads Bain & Company's global healthcare practice.

"If there's no going back to normal, then what's the what's the new normal?" van Biesen said that question "raises the opportunity for manufacturers to now get ahead of that from a technological standpoint."