MEDICA and COMPAMED 2012: Joachim Schaefer Provides Some Insight Into the Medical Trade Fairs

Medical manufacturing trade fairs MEDICA and COMPAMED are held annually in Düsseldorf, Germany. Global participants range from healthcare providers to health insurance and medical device industry professionals. A variety of technology including electromedicine, hospital equipment, orthopedic equipment and consumer goods can be viewed in dozens of exhibitions halls. There are opportunities for discussion and education in the various forums, lectures and seminars offered. This year, the trade fairs will bring together nations and industry once again starting Nov. 14. MEDICA will end on the 17th, and COMPAMED on the 16th.

The trade fairs are organized by Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, which also manages other trade fairs globally. Managing Director Joachim Schaefer spoke with Orthopedic Design & Technology about the upcoming 2012 events:

How do this year’s trade shows compare with years past in terms of participation? Are numbers up, down or unchanged? How has participation from various geographical areas shifted, if at all?

The very healthy number of registrations for MEDICA 2012 suggests that we can at least match last year’s number with 4,500 exhibitors from more than 60 nations. COMPAMED—which is held parallel—is doing just as well. We are expecting more than 600 exhibitors from over 30 countries at the world’s leading exhibition for suppliers of medical technology. Both events have seen constant positive growth over the past few years and there were no reductions in bookings. The largest number of exhibitors—after Germany—traditionally comes from the Unites States, Italy, China, the United Kingdom and France.

Last year, MEDICA focused on “Mobility IT.” Do this year’s MEDICA and COMPAMED have a particular theme or focus? Could you detail why organizers made that choice, and what goes into that decision?

MEDICA’s main characteristic is that it does not only cover separate market areas but also addresses the complete ‘workflow’ of in-patient and outpatient patient care. Correspondingly, the highlights are diverse. One trend is that the personalization of medicine is advancing in terms of medicinal products and technology. Implant medicine is a good example. A few years ago, a purpose-built knee prosthesis for women based on general gender-specific differences caused a stir. Since then, it has become possible to manufacture knee or hip prostheses much more precisely based on a patient’s CT [computed tomography] and MRT [magnetic resonance tomography] data, making them practically tailor made. Tele-medical applications continue to be popular, both for doctor-to-doctor data transfer and doctor-patient communication. More and more applications are available as compact apps on tablet PCs [personal computers] or smartphones. Speaking of tablet PCs: Increasingly, medical devices are featuring touch screen user concepts and simplified menu structures.

Last year, MEDICA introduced the MEDICA Wound Care Forum. What new topics or forums will you be highlighting during this year’s proceedings?

The “AppCircus” is a new part of the MEDICA Health IT Forum where software developers present their innovative health apps. The “MEDICA Econ Forum will also premiere this year. This forum is specifically geared towards decision-makers from the many health insurance companies in Germany. They are increasingly players rather than payers in the health sector. Instead of just billing for treatments, they actively develop health solutions and treatment models for their insured patients with respect to particular diagnoses—together with suppliers, such as clinics and outpatient health facilities.

In an earlier press release, you mentioned two forums in particular that you were excited about: The COMPAMED High-Tech Forum, and the Suppliers Forum. You mentioned that these forums will “give a glimpse” into the technology “of tomorrow.” Could you expand on this? What do you have planned to examine future technology? Will it be manufacturing technology or a look at finished medical products?

Hardly any other industry is as driven by innovation as much as medical technology. On average, European medtech companies invest 8 percent of their revenue in the research and development of new products. In many cases, the product life cycle is barely two years. Which means any company not wanting to get left behind by this development and market growth must interweave its own internal processes with its suppliers. For the most part, this means deciding to what extent new devices, products and instruments are to be developed and manufactured in house and where it makes sense to outsource processes to suppliers. The supplier can offer his services as a competent partner for all stages in the value creation cycle—both COMPAMED and MEDICA will demonstrate this. A coordinated balance of power between suppliers and medical technology suppliers stems from a cooperative approach during product development. Specifically, everyone contributes their own particular expertise. With regards to COMPAMED exhibitors, this means valuable medical technology knowledge from cross-application technologies such as microsystem technology, nanotechnology, or in terms of packaging solutions, processing a vast range of materials.

You also mentioned, with regard to MEDICA, that while the markets for complete hospital information systems and surgery IT are undergoing “a period of stagnation and are characterized by concentration and consolidation processes on the supplier side,” the area of ‘eHealth’ [electronic health] is booming at the moment, a field on which MEDICA has focused for several years. Do you have any insight as to why this is the trend?

All over Europe, a certain level of market saturation has been reached in terms of the implementation of hospital information systems. Today, due to budget restrictions, companies prioritize investment in solutions that offer a measurable increase in usefulness over usual practices. This applies to special software for selected medical specialties (e.g., image handling in radiology using Picture Archiving Systems). Mobility IT solutions also provide added value—for example, when doctors no longer need to visit a patient with the patient’s paper file but can view the patient’s records on a tablet PC or monitor. The same also applies to eHealth/mHealth [mobile health] solutions for communication and data exchange between doctors and remote patient care.

What is the vision for the MEDICA and COMPAMED trade fairs in the years to come?

MEDICA is the leading global event for the medical user sector. COMPAMED is a natural complement to it, serving as a platform for suppliers to the medical technology industry. In other words: The MEDICA exhibitors are the customers of the COMPAMED exhibitors. Both these trade fairs—a unique combination worldwide—cover the complete process chain and entire range of medical products, devices and instruments. At MEDICA and COMPAMED, expert forums link knowledge transfer with practical application and convey best practices—by professionals for professionals. The result is medtech for tomorrow.