AdvaMed Launches Digital Health Sector
By Jof Enriquez,
Follow me on Twitter @jofenriq
The Advanced Medical Technology Association, or AdvaMed, is forming a new digital health sector within the organization to cater to companies, developers, innovators, stakeholders, and thought leaders in this burgeoning space in healthcare.
Washington, D.C.-based AdvaMed says it will leverage its expertise and reach as an advocacy group in giving a clarion voice to digital health companies, like it has in the past four decades for companies producing medical devices, diagnostic products, and health information systems. The trade association claims to represent 80 percent of medical technology firms in the United States, with nearly 300 members in the U.S., Europe, India, China, Brazil, and Japan.
Creating AdvaMed Digital is a smart move by the medtech association, as the traditional medtech industry is increasingly looking – on its own or, increasingly, through partnerships with digital health companies – to design and manufacture smart, connected devices that impact people in all healthcare settings, notes MedCity News.
“From mobile devices that provide individuals personalized health care information to harnessing Big Data to find solutions for entire patient populations, digital health companies are transforming how we think about health care every day,” said Scott Whitaker, AdvaMed president and CEO, in a news release.
AdvaMed's track record in successfully lobbying for regulatory and reimbursement legislation, as well as public policies beneficial to its traditional medtech industry members, bodes well for prospective digital health member companies. Even before creating an organizational sector to focus on digital health, the group says it already has played a prominent role in the digital health revolution that has played out in recent years.
“AdvaMed has already been a leader on so many issues impacting the digital health space – from software regulation to cybersecurity to interoperability standards – just to name a few,” said Robert Jarrin, director of government affairs for Qualcomm Inc. “AdvaMed Digital will provide even more focus on these and other critical issues – some of which are only beginning to emerge.”
Since the rules of digital health still are being written, AdvaMed Digital says it will help shape the sector by serving as a "leading digital health convener, thought leader, and advocate" for manufacturers and developers of products or technologies with applications in digital health.
For this purpose, it is organizing its inaugural Digital Medtech Conference on March 2, 2017 in San Francisco. The event will provide members with the opportunity to interact with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials, venture capitalists, and domain experts to discuss current and future challenges, opportunities and trends in the digital health space. Among the agenda are topics on artificial intelligence and cognitive computing, wearables, mobile health, software development, and market opportunities.
A listing of AdvaMed Digital members includes medical device manufacturers Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, Baxter, Edwards Lifesciences, Stryker, Terumo, Philips, BD, Boston Scientific, as well as Apple, IBM, Intel, Verily Life Sciences, and several pharmaceutical companies.