The Asia Pacific Medical Technology Association (APACMed) brought to fruition the first-ever hybrid virtual forum – Redefining Healthcare Agility, which welcomed more than 130 world class leaders from over 30 countries to share insights on how they are transforming the healthcare industry.
The APACMed annual MedTech Forum brings more than 1,000 delegates together every year, making it one of the largest yearly forums in Asia Pacific.
The forum involved a plethora of interactive engagements, including live discussions, interviews and demonstrations.
Owing to the pandemic, the 6th edition of the conference included on-site attendance of up to 50 people, along with virtual attendance of over 1,000 delegates, thus becoming the first ever hybrid conference with a global reach to be hosted in the medical technology arena. The conference witnessed the participation of global and regional leaders, serving as the perfect setting for discussing collaboration and innovation opportunities in Asia.
The regional insights session kicked off with the release of the much awaited APACMed- McKinsey Business Sentiment Survey, which gives insights from senior MedTech leaders surveyed from a range of different product sectors, business scales and geographies on the current market trends and overall business sentiment.
Within the regional insights track as part of focus country this year, India have been featured through an exclusive healthcare leaders session under the title “Leapfrogging Towards Healthcare 4.0”, where the panel comprised of leaders from entire healthcare value chain including hospitals, MedTech & diagnostics, and discussions revolved around how digital transformation is driving access and affordability in healthcare, especially from a post COVID scenario.
Anish Bafna, chief executive Officer & managing director, Healthium said, “Some recent trends in healthcare that we are seeing over the past few years and which has been further accelerated by the current crisis is the adoption of interventions such as telemedicine, artificial intelligence and home healthcare, all of which are helping to drive access and bridge the urban rural infrastructure gap”.
Himanshu Baid, managing director, Poly Medicure “A lot of disruptions are happening especially in healthcare technology and it is imperative that organizations keep on innovating to survive in the market. The government of India has been proactive on policies related to digital health which has resulted in an upsurge in digital innovation in recent times, and which will help India to shift from an import driven country to a more export oriented one”.
Dr K Hari Prasad, group president – hospitals, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise said, “The impact of COVID has been felt much more by the healthcare players in the organized sector during first quarter while the unorganized sector has almost shut down. With COVID now here to stay, it will be very much a part of the regular disease profile, triggering newer models of care to come up with digital becoming an integral part of care delivery”
Dr Om Manchanda, managing director, Dr Lal PathLabs mentioned “Healthcare players will have to reinvent new business models, as we are a seeing a rapid change in consumer behavior as well as in doctors, both of whom are now more comfortable with digital interventions. Adoption of new age technology and innovation need to be accelerated, especially in diagnostics to ensure testing becomes affordable. There is also a need for a coherent and collaborative effort from both public and private sectors to fight against diseases that have public health importance like dengue, chikungunya, swine flu and now COVID”.
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has intensified conversations around universal healthcare as well as cooperation between public and private sectors. For this reason, this year’s forum aimed to unite healthcare stakeholders to collectively improve the quality of healthcare across the region, with the assistance of emerging platforms that demonstrate the value of innovative medical technology.
Highlighting the importance of such collaborations, the healthcare systems were also represented by the participation of Preetha Reddy, vice chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, and Dr Kelvin Loh, managing director & CEO, IHH Healthcare.
Further delivering the Keynote Address at the Virtual Forum, Dr. Preetha Reddy, vice chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group & president NATHEALTH said, “The pandemic catalyzed an imperative and urgency to weave in, an all-new agility into healthcare, which must redefine accessibility, affordability and accountability of care delivery. Hardwiring a culture of collaboration and commitment to harnessing emerging technologies can enable healthcare to bridge gaps in infrastructure and resources. Also, beyond COVID-19, innovations to manage the growing prevalence of NCDs must be an equal priority.”
The pandemic has sparked an emergence of opportunities and identified areas of immense need in the medical technology sector for Asia. It is estimated that, nearly 60% of world’s population will be residing in Asia by 2030, with around 24% of them above the age of 60.
Harjit Gill, CEO APACMed said, “In the face of COVID-19, the healthcare industry has hit an inflection point, as organisations in the region grapple with profound changes and impacts to their businesses. However, the pandemic has also sparked unprecedented levels of digital transformation, collaboration and innovation, and we must grasp this opportunity to reshape the medical technology industry as we enter a new era in healthcare.”
MedTech global thought leaders like Jose Almeida (chairman, president and CEO of Baxter International), John Groetelaars (president & CEO of Hillrom), Ashley McEvoy (executive vice president, worldwide chairman, medical devices, Johnson & Johnson) Kevin Lobo (chairman & CEO, Stryker) and Dr Bernd Montag (CEO of Siemens Healthineers) were few of the prominent speakers in the conference who shared their perspective on the future of healthcare and the opportunity Asia holds. The forum also featured insights from other technology leaders in the space, such as Corey McCann (president & CEO, Pear Therapeutics), Joe DeVivo (president, hospitals & health systems, Teladoc Health), Dr. ShezPartovi (worldwide lead for healthcare, life sciences & genomics, AWS) and Sanjay Popat (CEO, Trabeya). |