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Here’s our medtech events calendar for 2024

The show floor was bustling in May 2023 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center during DeviceTalks Boston and its companion Robotics Summit & Expo. The events drew nearly 4,000 people. [Image courtesy of Jeff Pinette for WTWH Media]

Medtech events have a new energy to them after the COVID-19 pandemic as industry insiders once again seek opportunities for in-person networking and learning.

Here are medtech events that we’ll be following and attending in 2024, including our own DeviceTalks conferences and expos.

JPM Annual Healthcare Conference (JPM 2024) Jan. 8–11, 2024 The Westin St. Francis San Francisco 2024.jpmhealthcareconference.org

CES 2024 Jan. 9–12, 2024 Las Vegas www.ces.tech

MD&M West Feb. 6–8, 2024 Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California www.imengineeringwest.com

AAOS 2024 Annual Meeting Feb. 12–16, 2024 Moscone Center San Francisco www.aaos.org/…

AdvaMed picks GE HealthCare CEO Peter Arduini as new chair, forms medical imaging division

Peter Arduini is now the chair of the AdvaMed board of directors. [Photo courtesy of GE HealthCare]AdvaMed today announced the appointment of GE HealthCare CEO Peter Arduini as its board chair as it establishes a medical imaging division.

Arduini takes over the board chair spot from former Johnson & Johnson MedTech head Ashley McEvoy. McEvoy resigned from her position at J&J in October and subsequently stepped down as AdvaMed chair less than a year into a two-year term.

“The timing of Peter Arduini’s election as our new chair couldn’t be better,” AdvaMed President and CEO Scott Whitaker said in a news release. “His leadership of GE HealthCare, a global leader in medical imaging, pharmaceutical diagnostics and digital solutions, will provide strategic insight and direction to AdvaMed as we work to ensure an aligned and inclusive focus across companies in every sector of medtech.”

As the medtech advocacy organization named Arduini to lead…

How can medtech companies innovate their business models?

From left: Veronica Acurio, Gio Di Napoli, Brian Montgomery and Simran Sabharwal talked business model innovation at AdvaMed’s The MedTech Conference.

In an ever-changing medtech space, how do companies keep up with the pace of change? How do companies adjust and innovate their business models to reflect that?

Leaders from some of medtech’s biggest names attempted to answer some questions around that at AdvaMed’s The MedTech Conference yesterday. (Want to find out more? Leaders from major medical device companies will discuss innovation in surgical robotics, diabetes tech, cardiovascular and neurovascular tech, oncology and more at DeviceTalks West, Oct. 18–19 in Santa Clara. Register here.)

A panel on “Disruptive Business Models in Medtech: The Next Frontier of Value-Centric Innovation” included:

Veronica Acurio, president of the Medical Solutions division, 3M; Gio Di Napoli, president of the GI operating unit at Medtronic; B…

Stryker CEO Kevin Lobo offers supply chain update after ‘wild year’

Kevin Lobo is CEO and chair of Stryker. [Photo courtesy of Stryker]

The medtech industry as a whole suffered over the past year or so as supply chain issues — namely semiconductors — came to a head.

Midway through last year, Medtronic CEO Geoff Martha labeled it as a problem for everyone as medtech’s biggest names navigated serious shortages of chips and other key supplies.

An industry survey from Deloitte showed that some medtech manufacturers slowed down or halted manufacturing operations after depleting their semiconductor inventories. Nearly 80% of survey respondents reported extended lead times, with some stretching more than a year.

At AdvaMed’s The MedTech Conference on Monday in Anaheim, Stryker Chair and CEO Kevin Lobo explained the low point that his company and the industry hit last year.

“In this industry, we never had to worry about [chip supply] before,” Lobo…

These devices are the top targets of lawsuit-related advertisements

Surgical mesh products continue to drive medical device lawsuit spending. [Photo via Adobe Stock]

Spending on advertisements related to medical device lawsuits this year is on track to exceed last year’s tally.

That’s according to figures provided by Washington, D.C.-based X Ante, which uses data from ad intelligence firm Vivvix. X Ante supplies reports on medical device lawsuit ad spending to the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), which is calling for new federal regulations of mass tort advertising to protect device manufacturers from lawsuits bankrolled by third-party funders.

For the first half of 2023, $6.2 million worth of legal ads targeted five kinds of medical devices:

Pelvic mesh: $3.5 million Hernia mesh: $1.9 million CPAP machines: $532,000 Physiomesh: $262,000 Military earplugs: $54,000

Spending on the top five device categories totaled just under $11 mil…

AdvaMed takes aim at device lawsuits funded by third parties

The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) is asking for new regulations to protect device manufacturers from lawsuits bankrolled by third-party funders.

Ahead of a U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on the topic tomorrow, AdvaMed General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer Chris White submitted a letter in which he said “most mass tort litigation against medical device manufacturers is fueled by banks, private equity firms and hedge funds.”

AdvaMed wants new federal regulations of mass tort advertising like laws passed in Tennessee and Texas.

“The influx of billions of dollars of third-party litigation funding has fundamentally changed the dynamics of mass tort litigation,” White wrote. “These financiers are injecting huge amounts of investment capital into creating litigation regardless of the merits,” White wrote in the letter. “They start by funding mass marketing campaigns on TV, radio,…

AdvaMed outlines new Medicare AI and software strategy

AdvaMed, the Medtech Association and CapView Strategies today released a white paper on the ethical incorporation of AI and software in Medicare.

The report — Medicare Policy at the Crossroads – Addressing Artificial Intelligence and Software — details the ways to help advance this incorporation into Medicare coverage and payment policies. It outlines a strategy for Medicare AI and software and makes targeted recommendations to improve Medicare’s payment systems, accounting for these technologies.

“CMS has taken significant, but only incremental, steps to bring the benefits of AI and software solutions that are themselves medical devices or that improve medical devices used in care for Medicare beneficiaries” said Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of AdvaMed. “The agency must now show leadership in pursuing a strategy to address access, equity and ethical issues for AI/software innovations in Medicare and across the health care system.”

The AdvaMed…

CMS proposes new TCET pathway for Medicare coverage of breakthrough devices

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing the new Transitional Coverage for Emerging Technologies (TCET) pathway for breakthrough devices to secure Medicare coverage.

The voluntary program would expedite Medicare coverage for new medtech innovations, offering an estimated three to five years of transitional coverage. CMS repealed a similar program, Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT), in 2021, citing concerns that it may have covered devices without adequate evidence.

The new TCET proposal “supports both improved patient care and innovation by providing a clear, transparent, and consistent coverage process while maintaining robust safeguards for the Medicare population,” CMS said in a statement.

CMS will be taking public comment on the notice for 60 days after publication. The notice is scheduled for publication on June 27, 2023.

CMS is currently seeking public comment on new guidance on evidence…

How device founders can find a buyer for their medtech

Frank Jaskulke is Medical Alley’s VP of intelligence and the head of Medical Alley Starts. [Photo courtesy of Medical Alley]

If you’re a medtech entrepreneur looking to sell your medical device business, Frank Jaskulke is a great contact to have in your network.

He’s VP of intelligence at Medical Alley and the head of its Medical Alley Starts program, which offers resources and support for healthcare startups. His Minnesota-focused organization has worked with more than 360 medical device startups just in the first few months of this year.

Medical Design & Outsourcing recently spoke with Jaskulke about how medtech entrepreneurs can make friends before they need them on the path to an eventual sale of their business.

Know the market and work your network

Medical device entrepreneurs — and especially first-time entrepreneurs — often have a big blind spot while developing their …

Johnson & Johnson MedTech’s leader is AdvaMed’s new chair

Johnson & Johnson MedTech EVP and Worldwide Chair Ashley McEvoy [Photo courtesy of Johnson & Johnson]AdvaMed announced today that it has named Ashley McEvoy, EVP of MedTech at Johnson & Johnson, as its new chair.

The group’s board of directors unanimously elected McEvoy as its chair during its quarterly meeting yesterday. She is the first woman to serve as chair at the major U.S. medical technology trade association, which was founded in 1974. (Pam Bailey, who is board chair at medtech contract manufacturing giant Integer, was AdvaMed’s CEO from 1999 to 2005.)

McEvoy succeeds Abiomed’s former CEO Michael Minogue. She starts a two-year term as board chair at the same time that major medtech companies such as Johnson & Johnson face a host of challenges. Health provider customers in the U.S. and elsewhere are grappling with staffing shortages and operational challenges. There are macroeconomic headwinds, and the Chinese government is seeki…

How Phiex could revolutionize medical device sterilization

CL Tian is co-founder and CEO of Phiex. [Photo courtesy of Phiex]

MedTech Innovator winner Phiex is working with medical device manufacturers on an alternative to ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilization.

The new method uses dry chlorine dioxide gas generated inside the medical device’s product packaging. The powder turns into a microbe-destroying gas when exposed to light, Phiex co-founder and CEO CL Tian said in an interview.

Medical device manufacturers can either integrate the powder into their product packaging or as a secondary pouch. And so far, most devices that can be sterilized with EtO can be sterilized with the Phiex process, Tian said.

EtO is the leading sterilization method for medical devices. Manufacturers and contract sterilization firms use EtO on more than 20 billion medical devices every year, or approximately half of all devices that require sterilization.

But the medte…

AdvaMed warns Biden of threat from EtO facility closures

AdvaMed CEO and President Scott Whitaker [Photo courtesy of AdvaMed]

The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) shared industry concerns over new ethylene oxide (EtO) regulations with President Joe Biden, warning that sterilization facility closures could cause device shortages.

In a new letter to Biden, AdvaMed President and CEO Scott Whitaker said the medtech industry welcomes updated regulations for EtO sterilization facilities and reiterated patient safety warnings.

“With 20 billion medical devices sterilized using EtO each year in the U.S. at about only 100 facilities, the closure of even a small percentage of facilities could harm patient access to health care,” Whitaker wrote. “EtO sterilization is at capacity. With 80 percent of surgical kits alone sterilized using EtO, any shutdown-induced disruption could reverberate from screening to the operating room to post-oper…