2011 Health Technology Summit

Healthcare Reform Policies Are Reshaping Medtech Company Priorities,
Say Panelists at Annual InHealth Summit

Click here to view access audiovisual presentations

The ongoing implementation of healthcare reform policies is leading many medical device companies to rethink their strategies for product innovation, and could lead to the flight of capital and companies to other countries, according to panelists at InHealth’s 2011 Health Technology Summit, held recently in Washington, DC.

Amid cautious optimism for opportunities still to come as a result of healthcare reform, panelists focused on the central theme of the summit, “Healthcare Reform at Year One: Will More Policy Mean Less Technology?“ The annual Health Technology Summit is a cornerstone of InHealth’s educational programs, which convene key stakeholders––including policymakers, payers, clinicians, providers, and industry executives––to advance understanding about the role of medical technology innovation in society, the economy, and people’s lives.

How well U.S. leadership in medtech innovation will weather the next wave of reform may depend on how future rules and regulations address the healthcare system’s complexity, whether medtech companies can adapt to meet increasing evidence requirements of multiple industry stakeholders, and whether investors will continue to supply the funding needed to develop innovative, effective products. Summit panelists identified a number of factors that will shape the reform-era pipeline for medical technologies:

• The growing complexity of the healthcare system will not be remedied by more regulation; reorganization will be crucial for system improvement.
• Increased evidence demands will not go away. Medical device companies must be able to meet the rigorous evidence demands of payers and government agencies such as FDA and CMS––even if this means that iterative products go unfunded in favor of larger technology advances.
• Current and future payer experiments, such as accountable care organizations, may reshape the diffusion patterns for innovative technologies, and redefine patient access to those technologies.
• Whatever the course of healthcare reform, genuine clinical and organizational needs will still exist that can best be met through advanced medical technologies.
• Ensuring that medtech innovation stays on U.S. shores will benefit the nation’s patients and the economy. But the current economic and regulatory climate is not conducive to investment in medical technology.

“This summit challenged panelists to assess how present and future versions of healthcare reform policies will affect the pipeline for medical technology innovation,” said Martyn Howgill, InHealth’s executive director. “Answering this question should be a top priority, as it will have widespread repercussions for the economy and patients alike.”

Summit Agenda 

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  Welcome and Introductions
Martyn W. C. Howgill
Executive Director
Institute for Health Technology Studies

Robert J. Rubin, MD
Conference Chair
Clinical Professor of Medicine, Georgetown University
Member, InHealth Board of Directors
Chair, InHealth Research Council

Keynote
Medical Technology in the Era of Reform
David M. Cutler, PhD, Dean of Social Science, Harvard University
In this keynote presentation, healthcare economist and national policy advisor David Cutler explores how policies and practices brought about by healthcare reform may stimulate or impede investment, development, adoption, or use of medical technologies—and how medtech companies and policymakers can best respond in order to preserve patient access to those technologies.

Session 1
The Changing Environment for Demonstrating What Works in Healthcare
Moderator: Clifford Goodman, PhD, Senior Vice President and Principal, The Lewin Group; Chair, MEDCAC
Creation of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) accompanies changing evidence expectations for validating medical technologies in the United States and globally. In this session, researchers discuss how PCORI will interact with such agencies as AHRQ, CMS, FDA, and NIH as well as other public- and private-sector organizations, and implications for the medtech sector. Panelists include:

Bonnie Handke, RN, MBA
Senior Director for Reimbursement
Neuromodulation Division, Medtronic Inc.

Mark Helfand, MD, MS, MPH
Professor of Medicine, Professor of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology
Director, Evidence-Based Practice Center, Oregon Health and Sciences University

Jeffrey C. Lerner, PhD
President and CEO
ECRI Institute

Harlan F. Weisman, MD
Chief Science and Technology Officer
Medical Devices and Diagnostics Group, Johnson & Johnson

Morning Break Sponsored by Latham & Watkins 

Session 2
Payer Innovation and Access to Healthcare Technology
Moderator: Leslie V. Norwalk, JD, Strategic Counsel, Epstein Becker & Green
The new CMS Innovation Center is charged with developing and diffusing new care and payment models to improve the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and benefit the healthcare system. But while guiding experiments with accountable care organizations, health home and medical home concepts, bundled payment systems, and more, can the center preserve access to advanced medical technologies? In this session, experts discuss medtech's prospects in the context of future reforms. Panelists include:

Kenneth Barrette
Principal
Optimity Advisors

Liesl Cooper, PhD
Vice President for Global Healthcare Economics, Policy, and Reimbursement
Covidien

Ted Epperly, MD
Program Director and Chief Executive Officer
Family Medicine Residency of Idaho

Luncheon and Executive Interview
Medtech, Innovation, and the ‘New Normal’
Moderator: Stuart S. Kurlander, MHA, JD, Senior Partner, Health Care and Life Sciences Practice, Latham & Watkins LLP
In this moderated interview, experts from the provider community discuss how their institutions are handling the emerging opportunities to implement healthcare innovations, and what their changes will mean for the adoption and use of advanced medical technologies. Featured speakers for this special session:

Carol Harding
Senior Director
Supply Chain Innovations and Organizational Transformation The Cleveland Clinic

Craig E. Samitt, MD, MBA
President and CEO
Dean Health Systems

Session 3
Reform, Investment, and Innovation
Moderator: Gregory de Lissovoy, PhD, MPH, Adjunct Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Healthcare reform remains a work in progress, with many programs still to be developed, many policies still in flux, and significant changes to the legislation still a possibility. In this session medtech investors and business development professionals consider the impact of such uncertainties on the current and future pipeline for medtech innovation.  Panelists for the session include:

Allan W. May
Founder and Chairman, Life Science Angels
Chair, Angel Capital Education Foundation 

Susan E. Morano, MBA
Worldwide Vice President for New Business Development
Medical Devices and Diagnostics Group, Johnson & Johnson

Kelly Campbell Slone
Director, Medical Industry Group
National Venture Capital Association 

Adjournment
Martyn W. C. Howgill
Institute for Health Technology Studies  

Sponsorship provided by: