Medtechs At The Wheel In New Health Care Landscape

24 Jan 2017

2016 was a year of surprise and change in political circles, but that's nothing new for the medtech industry, which over a number of years has become accustomed to health care systems demanding different and ever-higher levels of service. Smart medtechs have been ahead of the curve, but the whole industry now factors in clients' wider needs in a holistic approach to patient care. Many companies' current M&A policies are already reflecting the changes to come.

"As it stands, we can see that if we don't intervene strongly, health care systems are going to come to a full hard stop," Rob ten Hoedt, chair of Medtech Europe (MTE), told In Vivo during MedTech Europe's 2016 MedTech Forum in Brussels in December 2016. He was ostensibly referring to European health care systems, but the message is generic and globally applicable, especially to mature health care delivery systems.

The current situation is unsustainable with health care expenditure going up 3 to 4 to 5% per year and average...