Mercy CEO at ATA 2013: Telemedicine Not on the Fringe Anymore

Just over 5% of the heathcare system's 3 million annual patients end up spending a night in the hospital.

The 18th International Meeting and Trade Show of the American Telemedicine Association began yesterday. Billed as the world’s largest meeting and trade show focusing exclusively on telemedicine, mhealth, and telehealth, the conference is expected to top 5,000 attendees for the first time ever this year and will feature more than 250 exhibitors. The ATA itself is 20 years old and showed a 20% growth in revenue and a 36% growth in staff over the past year. According to Stewart Ferguson, president of the ATA, the vision of the organization is to ultimately see telemedicine fully integrated into healthcare systems.

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May 6th, 2013
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Medtech R&D By the Numbers

What's the state of medtech R&D? Let the numbers speak for themselves:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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May 3rd, 2013
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Should Medical Device Companies Hire Employees Who Have Autism?

Some of the traits of autism could make people diagnosed with the disorder well suited for jobs in the medical device industry.

An interesting NPR story from last week drew attention to the fact that young adults on the autism spectrum can thrive in tech jobs, which begs the question: Should medical device companies start looking at the 50,000 students with autism who will graduate high school this year as potential hires?

The NPR story focused on the nonPareil Institute, a program in Plano, TX, that provides technical training in areas such as software programming, digital design, and 3-D modeling to people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The institute's students already have apps in the Mac App Store and on Google Play. 

Neurologist Patricia Evans, of Dallas's Children's Medical Center, told NPR's Lauren Silverman that...

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May 3rd, 2013
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Some Medical Humor On A Dreary Friday Afternoon

It's a dreary Friday afternoon in Minnesota. We are in third day of May and still seeing white flakes that should really be illegal at this time of year. Especially hard for a sun-worshipper like me. 

Desperately seeking a pickup, I turned to Twitter for a much-needed dose of #medicalhumor. And it didn't disappoint. Enjoy.

 

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May 3rd, 2013
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This Week in Devices [5/3/2013]: China Wants To Boost Its Innovative Device Industry

China's FDA wants to boost the country's innovative device industry. A response to new European legislation on medical devices. University students' medical device wins them $25K. Senator Lamar Alexander speaks out against the device tax.

 
China's FDA Wants to Boost Innovative Medical Device Industry
 
China's FDA (CFDA) has released a draft, “Special Review and Approval Process for Innovative Medical Devices,” which makes the review and approval process for innovative devices more efficient. To define “innovative” as part of the eligibility requirements, “The primary functioning mechanism of the medical device shall be the first of its kind in China, and the device’s efficacy or safety profile shall be...
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May 3rd, 2013
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Five Benefits of Equipment Financing for Start-Ups and Small Businesses

Small companies and start-ups can have trouble securing credit, but equipment financing can help them acquire the capital assets they need to grow. 

Small or early-stage medical device companies and other start-ups often have a hard time securing the credit they need to purchase the equipment required to develop innovative products. Lenders often require two years of financial data, which start-ups just don't have. 

A more viable option for small companies and those just starting out could be equipment financing. Equipment financing offers the following benefits: 

See equipment demonstrations...

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May 3rd, 2013
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Crowdfunding Site Focuses on Healthcare Projects

On average, successful campaigns on MedStartr raise more than $405,000 over a six-month period. 

A little while back, MD+DI looked at the pros and cons of crowdfunding for medtech startups. Today I came across MedStartr.com, a crowdfunding site focused on healthcare projects. 

Launched in July 2012, it offers all-or-nothing campaigns, in which projects must reach their funding goal or else investors keep their pledge money, as well as a model that allows start-ups to keep what they raise. The site also offers services and support to help entrepreneurs get their campaigns funded faster.

On average, successful MedStartr campaigns raise more than $13,000 immediately and more than $405,000 over the next six months, according to the site. Projects that have reached their funding goals through...

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May 1st, 2013
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Venture Capitalist: Electricity Therapy is Like a Drug in the Device World With Potentially Little to No Side Effects
Ross Jaffe, Managing Director, Versant Ventures

Ross Jaffe, managing director at venture capital firm Versant Ventures, is very excited about neuromodulation.

In a wide-ranging discussion about the history and future about the device industry, Jaffe said that as a former clinician - he practiced medicine until the mid 1990s - he is most intrigued by the effect of electricity on the human body to manage and possibly cure diseases.

"This concept of electricity as a drug is really exciting to me personally," he said at an interview at the Medical Device Manufacturers Association in Washington, D.C., in mid April....

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May 1st, 2013
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Age Plays A Big Role in Surgeries Overall and Specifically in Certain Types of Surgical Procedures (infographic)

This interesting infographic from CompHealth shows who is undergoing a surgical procedure and for what. Age plays a role of course. 

For instance, 80.5 percent of people undergoing a coronary angioplasty or an atherectomy are between 75 and 84 years old. Read on for some interesting nuggets of data regarding the 48 million surgeries that are performed in the U.S.

Surgeries by Age Group - An infographic by the team at Top Surgeries Graphic - CompHealth

By Arundhati Parmar, Senior Editor, MD+DI

 

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April 30th, 2013
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Device Tax, Fundraising Advice, Managing Growth and Eyeing Asia Mark Topics at Minneapolis Device Conference (slideshow)

At the inaugural 10x Medical Device Conference in Minneapolis, Monday, topics ranged from the medical device tax to how to look for capital in a tight funding environment, as well as strategies for rapid growth and ways to enter the Asian market.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) expressed their hope in getting the device tax repealed as part of a broader conversation about tax reform. Klobuchar said that is a great improvement from the "blank stares" she received from her colleagues when she first began to talk about a repeal of the 2.3 percent device tax.

John Eckberg, a spokesman for Cook Medical, declared that the company has shelved plans to build five factories in the U.S. because of the burden of the device tax.

In discussing how to...

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April 30th, 2013
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