{ 08 JUNE 2009 } At first glance, it might seem that fixing the economy has swept away all other issues from the political agenda. But U.S. president Barack Obama has already made it clear that he intends to follow his own agenda: “If we want to create jobs, rebuild our economy and get our federal budget under control, then we must address the crushing cost of healthcare this year.” This seems to be even more important as people are getting older and in need of more treatment, and because the Obama administration intends to introduce healthcare coverage to the approximately 46 million people in the U.S. who are currently without health insurance. Hence, the only way to achieve this goal while still maintaining a high standard of care in the world’s largest healthcare market is to improve efficiency. The key to success in attaining productivity gains will lie in increased utilization of modern technologies throughout the entire healthcare industry – in both the U.S. as well as the rest of the world. A multi-billion euro industry on the move Higher efficiency is the new imperative in the healthcare industry, enabling better treatment and a longer life. This paradigm shift has set the entire medtech and diagnostics industry in motion. From patient admissions and medical examinations right through to device implants, the medtech industry, with annual revenues of some €260 billion in 2008, is embracing new technology solutions in order to satisfy the demands of the stakeholders, i.e. patients, healthcare providers and insurers, including governments with tight budgets. The days of focusing on in-patient treatment of diseases in advanced stages are a thing of the past – information exchange, out-patient treatment, early detection and prevention are the new agenda. This kind of environment is opening up once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for new players, as it is obvious that only innovators will be able to swiftly deliver the new solutions. The potential inherent in this shift can be seen from the development of Italian-German NoemaLife, a Wellington Partners portfolio company that is now publicly traded. Founded in the 1990s, this company has been focusing on IT solutions for health management from the very beginning; initially in connection with laboratory information systems. Here, the company has become the market leader in Italy with a market share of nearly 70% and a complete portfolio of vertical hospital solutions. It is now using technology developed in Germany to pioneer the field of electronic patient records. At the same time, NoemaLife is connecting hospitals across different regions in Italy and other countries. After years of steady growth in the lower double-digit range, the time now seems to be ripe for NoemaLife’s solutions. Its revenues grew by 53% year on year to €34.4 million in 2008, despite contracting markets and the economic crisis. And over 100,000 doctors, nurses and healthcare operators are now using NoemaLife’s products every day. Productivity gains at hospitals are also the key to success for French-based Implanet. Founded in 2007, this new player focuses on gold-standard, high-quality and high-volume implants for orthopedic surgery. In other words, like the first producers of generic drugs, Implanet offers patent-free products with proven efficacy – but at much lower cost, thanks to a direct Web-based marketing model, as well as a policy of not doing any basic research and utilizing streamlined logistics. At its heart stands the proprietary Beep‘N’Track IT system that uses RFID technology to minimize customer inventories and optimize processes within hospitals. Now that this technology has become a part of IBM’s global “Smarter Planet” initiative, Implanet has the opportunity of being a front-runner in the growing implant market and assuring that patients are able to receive the highest quality implants offering the best possible patient safety and efficacy, and to do it at a lower overall cost burden on healthcare systems. Replacing hospital stays with out-patient treatment options In most cases, in-patient treatment is required for endosurgery, and personnel-intensive hospital treatment remains one of the major healthcare cost drivers. As a result, and in order to achieve greater efficiency gains, the industry is seeking to move to out-patient treatment performed by private-practice doctors wherever possible. Sensimed is one of those companies who are offering a new technology that helps to avoid hospitalization and, at the same time, enables earlier intervention and improved treatment outcomes. Swiss-based Sensimed has developed a patented diagnostic device for early detection of glaucoma – a disease that afflicts some 70 million people worldwide and is regarded as the second most frequent cause of blindness. Sensimed’s core product, a non-refractive contact lens with a sensor, enables non-invasive, precise and continuous 24-hour-a-day measurement of intraocular pressure fluctuations, one of the key risk factors for glaucoma. So it comes as no surprise that ophthalmologists around the globe are keenly interested in this innovation Made in Switzerland. Higher efficiency leads to better healthcare Sensimed is a good example that showcases the typical win-win situation created by the new generation of medtech and diagnostics companies – their technologies enhance the cost efficiency of the healthcare system while supporting improved treatment. Sensimed facilitates the early diagnosis of glaucoma, electronic patient records prevent patients from being examined twice for the same indication, and a greater availability of gold-standard implants reduces waiting times and affords optimized clinical outcomes for all patients. In the end, the new paradigm of higher efficiency is leading to better treatment and a healthier life for everyone.
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