Channel Partner Guide

Channel Partner
House of Quality

Choose distributors in EMEA growth markets on evidence, not on a first meeting. A short guide and a free, light scorecard for medtech and healthcare AI manufacturers.

Open the scorecardRead the guide

Why the distributor decision matters

For a medtech or healthcare AI company entering the Gulf, North Africa, Turkey, Central and Eastern Europe or Sub-Saharan Africa, the first real market-entry decision is usually the local partner. The distributor often registers and imports the product, bids in public tenders, funds stock, installs and services equipment, trains users and handles complaints. They also decide how much attention your product gets next to their other lines. A good partner can build reference sites and a pipeline; a poor one can cost you a year and damage your name with key clinicians.

Distributors also carry legal risk. U.S. Department of Justice guidance names distributors among the third parties “commonly used to conceal misconduct”, such as bribery of foreign officials, and the MedTech Europe Code reminds manufacturers they “may be liable for the activities of Third Party Intermediaries”. The House of Quality replaces gut feel with a structured, evidence-based assessment you can repeat and defend.

Seven dimensions, weighted by what matters

10%

1. Qualification & Fit

Is this a real, well-run company that covers the territory it claims, with transparent ownership, and does it sell to the buyers your product needs?

15%

2. Financial Capacity

Can it fund stock, tender guarantees and slow public-sector payments, and pay you in hard currency through a clean bank route?

10%

3. Strategic Synergy

Do its existing lines open the right doors, without competing products, and can it sell the way your product is bought?

15%

4. Operational Excellence

Trained engineers and application specialists, a measured service operation, traceability, a quality system, and for software, real hospital IT integration skills.

20%

5. Compliance Controls

A working anti-bribery programme, clean dealings with healthcare professionals and tenders, the regulatory licences and skills to place your product, and lawful handling of patient data.

20%

6. Market Access & Voice of Customer

Legitimate relationships with the clinicians who shape adoption, enough sellers in front of your target accounts, and customer feedback they will share.

10%

7. Performance Management

Reliable reporting, acceptance of balanced targets, and quarterly business reviews with senior attendance.

Compliance and market access carry the most weight because they decide both the risk and the reward. The weights are a sensible default; adjust them before you score, not after.

The knock-out principle

A strong sales team must not average its way past an integrity problem. Nine deal-breakers are checked first: sanctions or debarment; hidden ownership or an undisclosed official’s stake; an unremediated corruption, fraud or bid-rigging record; refusal of core compliance terms; improper payment requests (offshore, other entities, cash, unexplained commissions or discounts); tender misconduct; missing legally required licences; falsified information; and, for AI and digital products, refusal to handle patient data lawfully. Any “yes” means not recommended, whatever the score. Re-check at least yearly and at renewal.

How scoring works

Each question describes what a weak (1), adequate (3) and strong (5) partner looks like. Score what you have seen evidence for, not what you are promised. Dimension averages are weighted into a score from 1 to 5, then shown as a 0–100 index (a 3 everywhere gives 50). Minimum scores per dimension matter as much as the total: a partner that is weak in one area can be a bigger risk than one that is middling everywhere.

PreferredIndex ≥ 70, every dimension ≥ 3.0, Compliance ≥ 3.5, no knock-outs. Appoint with standard onboarding and monitoring.
ConditionalIndex ≥ 50 and no dimension below 2.0, but short of Preferred. Appoint only with a written remediation plan and re-score in 6–12 months.
Not recommendedIndex below 50, any dimension below 2.0, or any knock-out triggered.

Run a quick first pass on your candidates

Quick mode asks 18 key questions plus the nine knock-outs. Switch to the full assessment (37 questions) when you are ready to decide. Everything stays in your browser.

Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (updated September 2024); U.S. DOJ & SEC, A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 2nd ed. (2020); MedTech Europe, Code of Ethical Business Practice, Chapter 10. General information, not legal advice.