DEVICETALKS
Expect more from your medtech meetings The pandemic has changed how we live, how we work, and how the medical technology industry meets.
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To m S a l e m i | D e v i c e Ta l k s E d i t o r i a l Director |
listen to Scott Gottlieb. I track his Tweets. I’m tearing through his book, “Uncontrolled Spread.” As a venture capitalist and former FDA commissioner, he checks all my boxes. He’s been a great guide on where we’ve been and where we’re going, so his recent projection that the pandemic could be over in the U.S. by the start of the new year has me rearing to go. Personally, I look forward to more movies and restaurant meals. Professionally, our DeviceTalks conferences in Boston, Minneapolis, and Santa Clara get a full green light. Let’s go! But meeting organizers need to acknowledge that post-pandemic meetings will be different. Why wouldn’t they be? You can read about the changes to our healthcare system in the pages of Medical Design & Outsourcing magazine, at MassDevice, and our other news sites. The pandemic has changed everything: •
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Medical Design & Outsourcing
Connectivity is king. A recent survey by the Medtech Innovator and Deloitte estimates that nearly three quarters of new devices have a connectivity component.
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Remote care is essential. Companies like Proximie, Explorer Surgical and Avail Medsystems rose to connect surgeons with each other as well as their industry reps. Medical device companies are taking previously unimaginable steps to secure their supply chains.
The way we meet, network and inform will have to change too. And I’m beyond excited because events need a reboot. Long overdue For too long, conference organizers have relied upon a potent cocktail of FOMO and habit. Sure, organizers try to amp up content, introduce cool partnering apps, and a few gimmicks. (One recent healthcare meeting had puppies, actual puppies … gimmicky, but intriguing.) The pandemic-induced lockdown should force every thoughtful meeting organizer to look inward and ask, “What exactly makes our meeting indispensable?” We know our audience is asking themselves the same question. Larger medical device makers are wondering if they need to spend millions
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