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When we speak about healthcare in Europe, the word ‘sustainability’ is used often. From the outset of the economic crisis in 2008, policymakers, ministries of health, customers and payers all have focused on sustainable financial systems and sustainable healthcare systems – often as separate paths to achieve results. As budgets are shrinking, innovative ways to maintain current social and healthcare systems for the long term must be employed. At CleanMed Europe, a conference that brings environmental and healthcare issues together on the same agenda, I was pleased to see that a broader alternative discussion is emerging—one that marries financial and systemic sustainability in healthcare.

Centralised procurement of medical technologies is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon in the EU, and one that all stakeholders in this field, whether for or against it, have strong opinions on. Purchasers have embraced centralised procurement as a means to drive down costs. Suppliers fiercely oppose it as it would limit market opportunities and slow down adoption of innovations. Some experts believe that centralised procurement might actually have a negative effect on quality of care in the long run, as it focuses too much on short term cash savings.

Since the French authorities made their announcement just prior to Christmas, the PIP case has generated a large amount of press and political attention. Quite rightly, the main focus is on the women affected and on governments providing the right health advice and appropriate follow-up. As I am writing this posting a couple of days after we released our first statement, I understand that the European Commission is to seek an independent scientific opinion on the human health risks of silicone breast implants.

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of the medical technology industry. Research in the medical technology industry, which typically occurs at the bedside not at the bench, is usually a result of small or micro collaborations between health professionals, academia and SMEs. This research model brings rapid innovation, which quickly tackles current and emerging medical needs. This innovation can only be good news for under-pressure European healthcare systems as there is clear evidence that more effective treatments are capable of delivering clear benefits; reduced hospital stays (with an associated reduction in cost of treatment); better outcomes, and faster rehabilitation and return to society.

Chairing a two day conference on e-health and presenting at a groundbreaking Innovation in Healthcare conference put on by DG Research has further fuelled my enthusiasm for telling the story about the power of technology to enable massive changes to the way that populations are cared for, whilst simultaneously improving outcomes, the patient experience and cost. If all this seems too good to be true just look at what the alternatives might be.

In a time when much health industry focus is on the European Commission’s Health Directorate, DG SANCO, EU Commissioner for Research Máire Geoghegan-Quinn chose Covidien’s 20 year celebration of their Galway, Ireland, facility (congratulations to all at Covidien) to emphasise again the value of the Medical Technology industry to Europe and the huge policy and funding support that she and her Directorate, DG Research, provide to the sector.

‘Never knowingly under sold’ is a slogan that one major UK retailer has been using more or less continuously since 1925. I have never quite understood what it means. E-heath and telemedicine have been touted as the key to disruptive change in healthcare for a very long time. I recall spending an entertaining four days […]