Less than 60 days until MedTech2017

The MTAA Annual Conference is less than 60 days away. MedTech2017 will be take place on the 1st and 2nd November at Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf, Sydney.

The theme this year is the “Value of Medical Technology to a Healthier Australia” and is shaping up to be one of the most outstanding yet with an impressive line-up of national and international speakers.

The Conference provides a unique opportunity for industry professionals to gather and exchange ideas and insights with their peers and other leaders within the medical technology community.

The full program is now available at the Medtech2017 website.

Women in MedTech Champion nominations

In 2017 MTAA introduced the “WiMT Champion” award. The WiMT Award will be presented to a person or a company who has been a Champion in advancing or achieved a significant result in the WiMT Mission or Goals within their company or the industry.

The Women in MedTech (WiMT) mission is to “lead the debate and promote the benefits of gender diversity in the workplace and within the Medtech Industry”. We aspire to actively support women entering or advancing within our industry.

New OTP courses added for 2017

Due to demand, we have added two new courses for Module 1.5 Introduction to Operating Theatre Protocols on 9th October, Sydney and 21st November, Melbourne.  There are also upcoming courses in Brisbane (10th October) and Perth (5th December).

For company bookings for 2018, please contact pd@mtaa.org.au to arrange a time and date suitable as we will be aiming to release new course dates soon.

Health dispatch article on price increases in the Prostheses List

Earlier this week an article in Health Dispatch titled “Insurers seek urgent clarity on price increases” appeared claiming Private Health Insurers were seeking urgent clarification from the Health Minister regarding a number of changes to the September Prostheses List.

The article selectively identified products that have gone up but fails to highlight other products have gone down by a similar margin. 

The reasons for the change is partly because three products gained superior clinical performance (SCP) suffix. This is only obtained if a hip or knee has achieved 10 years of clinical data, a revision rate lower than 5% and has been recommended for a SCP suffixes by the Prostheses List Advisory Committee.

It is not uncommon for billing codes to change groups or suffixes from List to List. These changes can result in benefit increases or decreases.

MTAA has confirmed with the Department of Health the reasons for the changes to some products in the September PL.

NSW Medical Devices Fund

Now an annual fixture on the industry calendar, the NSW Medical Devices Fund announcement and dinner at NSW Parliament House saw that state’s Minister for Health Brad Hazzard announce over $6.61million under the program for medical technology breakthroughs. Among the winners and grant recipients were:

• SpeeDx Pty Ltd (awarded $2.5 million): SpeeDx has commercialised the first single test worldwide which detects sexually transmitted infections and antibiotic resistance.
• MedLogical Innovations (awarded $1.25 million): ProFocal-Rx allows more than 30 per cent of prostate cancer patients to have minimally invasive therapy and preserve their prostate gland.
• Baymatob Pty Ltd (awarded $1.47 million) Oli is a non-invasive patch capable of monitoring pregnancy and labour remotely, allowing for real-time observation.
• Western Sydney Local Health District (awarded $1.39 million): The Mu Catheter reduces hypertension by de-nerving the renal artery using a transcatheter microwave.
  

The announcement further stamped medtech’s reputation as an innovation powerhouse, highlighting the role of start-ups and SMEs to the medical technology industry.

Standards Australia committee workshop

Standards Australia and MTAA are organising a workshop to explain how standards committees work and highlight the opportunities for local medtech companies to influence the content of standards affecting their products. MTAA is a Nominating Organisation and we can nominate representatives from our member companies to participate in Standards Australia technical committees and influence the content of standards, both Australian and international IEC/ISO standards.

Attendance is free of charge and companies may send more than one representative. To ensure the adequate size venue is prepared for the workshop, please RSVP by Friday 22 September 2017 with a short email to vtheisz@mtaa.org.au indicating in email subject: [Number of attendees] from [Company] will attend the Standards Australia workshop on September 26.

Agenda:

• The role and purpose of Standards Australia and why Standardisation is important to Australia

• Australia’s International commitments to ISO and what that means for Australia

• The committee process: How the committees work, how to get engaged

• Your contribution to the committee process (time, engagement, knowledge)

• Health Sector technical committees at Standards Australia – Projects completed/In progress/Committee vacancies

• Open (Questions, comments, feedback)

The workshop will take place on Tuesday 26 September 2017, between 9:30 am and 12:00 pm at Standards Australia head office in Sydney, located at Level 9, The Exchange Centre, 20 Bridge Street.

MTAA at Supply Chain Week 2017

MTAA Director of Access, Policy, Procurement & Innovation Andrea Kunca presented at the Supply Chain Week conference in Sydney on "Challenges and Opportunities facing the Medical Technology Industry"

MTAA supports Equal Pay Day

MTAA supports #EqualPayDay & proud the MedTech industry is addressing the gender pay gap at all levels of management. You can read more from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency here: https://www.wgea.gov.au/wgea-newsroom/equal-pay-day-2017

Blockchain in Healthcare Summit

Blockchain technology has the potential to transform the way we store and share data and the health industry may be one of the industries that benefits most from this technology. The Blockchain in Healthcare Summit is a great opportunity to network with and learn from the best-of-the-best in blockchain.

With case studies from the Estonian eHealth Foundation and the University of Melbourne, the Blockchain in Healthcare Summit is going to be unmissable.

Early Bird prices are available up until 8 September, so book before then to save up to $400. Check out the website for more information

Medical Devices Sponsor Information Day

MTAA is supporting the Medical Devices Sponsor Information Day: Understanding the Regulatory Framework.  The event will be held on Wednesday, 11 October 2017, 9am-5:30pm at the Hellenic Club of Canberra, ACT.

MTAA will be represented by George Faithfull, Rebecca Gaudin & Elizabeth Van Den Akker.

Invitation to join Australian MedTech delegation to the US

MTPConnect is inviting Australian MedTech companies to join a delegation to The MedTech Conference—September 25 – 27, 2017 in San Jose, California—to showcase our outstanding innovative technology and build invaluable inroads into international markets.

The Monthly Buzz

Australia's leading deep technology business incubator, Cicada Innovations, in holding an End-of-Month networking and drinks event: The Monthly Buzz!

September's Monthly Buzz will celebrate innovation in Medtech, bringing together medtech entrepreneurs, researchers, industry and Medical Device Commercialisation Training Program (MDCTP) alumni.

The event aims to connect entrepreneurs, startups, industry and researchers to discover the latest technology developments and explore the possibility for exciting collaboration opportunities.