2013 Medtech Scorecard
The healthcare industry is big and getting bigger, worth nearly $2 trillion in 2012. The medtech industry generated $110 billion in the United States and $44 billion in exports. But even as U.S. companies lead the world in research, innovation, and manufacturing,...
Informed and Engaged Patients Experience Better Care Results
If there were a super-drug that could reduce the mortality rate for patients with heart disease by 76%, it would be considered the medical discovery of the century. While no such drug exists, a program called Collaborative Cardiac Care Service (CCCS) instituted by...
Medtech and the Chinese Market
With nearly 1.4 billion people, China is the most populous nation on earth. And the number of middle class Chinese now stands at 474 million—more than the entire population of the United States. Naturally, this makes China one of the world’s fastest growing markets...
Clinics Versus Hospitals
There are more than 5,750 hospitals in the United States. In 2012, they treated nearly 36 million patients. Millions more were treated on an outpatient basis at the nation’s more than 15,000 urgent care centers and other health care clinics. And a new type of...
Know your Medtech!
In 1650, a German Jesuit named Athanasius Kircher invented the ear trumpet, a funnel-shaped device to collect sound waves and direct them into the ears of nearly deaf patients. Medical technology has come a long way since then, and today medtech devices include robots...
What Is Driving Medical Device Sales In 2013
When Medtronic manufactured the first pacemakers more than 50 years ago, physicians did not know what they were. The idea of implanting a man-made device in a patient’s chest sounded crazy. It was up to sales reps to teach doctors how pacemakers worked and how they...
How Universities Work With The Healthcare Industry
The first hospital in the United States owned and operated by a university was opened in a former professor’s house on the central campus of the University of Michigan in 1869. Surgical operations were performed in the upper lecture room until an operating room was...
Obamacare and the Health Services Industry
When the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, backers promised it would provide more affordable, accessible and comprehensive health care and insurance coverage for all Americans, including 30 million people without health insurance. However, when this complex law...
Medical Device Technologies Shaping Our World Today
In 1958, Minneapolis engineer Earl Bakken produced the first wearable external pacemaker. Since that time, biomedical engineering has contributed to human welfare by alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life. Advanced medical devices have improved the...