Key Takeaways from Spring 2022 Conferences - UX is Key, Connected Care is just the Beginning

Attending conferences is one of the best parts of our jobs at BioT. It’s our chance to meet with clinicians and patients who benefit from the technologies BioT helps bring to market. It’s always inspiring for us to see how connected care is impacting lives worldwide.  Meeting with device manufacturers at conferences also gives us a unique opportunity to ‘take the pulse’ of the device industry, identifying key trends and up-and-coming developments. 

After a busy spring conference season, we share some key takeaways from our travels. 

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Innovation Summit - Dublin

Europe's largest Medtech partnering and investment conference was finally back in person. It’s estimated that in 5 years 68% of the medical devices will be connected. BioT joined manufacturers and investors from around Europe to share how our first-of-its-kind, No-Code platform can transform medical devices into connected care platforms.

Key takeaway: FDA is now an easier path to market

There was a lot of discussion around the European CE certification process and the hurdles that the MDR regulations place before manufacturers. We heard a number of people saying that is now less burdensome to follow the American FDA path to registration. This is causing some European digital health and remote health companies to rethink their go-to-market strategy, launching their products in the US rather than Europe. When you factor in the facts that the US is one market equal to the entire fragmented European market and that connected care is covered by reimbursement in the US when it generally isn’t in Europe, there are many reasons to make the US a more attractive market for product launch. This could have a huge impact on European healthcare in the coming years, depriving it of innovation.  

Hanan Drobiner - Global Business Development Director

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ATTD - Barcelona

Combatting Diabetes is a major healthcare challenge. With over 26% of the population over 65 suffering from diabetes, creating impactful tools for managing the condition is essential. The ATTD (Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes) conference brings together diabetes experts from around the world with the aim to promote and support novel technologies and treatments. 

Key takeaway: Today’s connected care is just the beginning

Connected care is making a big impact in the care of diabetes. Blood glucose monitors, CGM, and insulin pumps, key tools in the mission to control diabetes, can now be connected offering remote patient monitoring and the next level of personalized care. The combination of several devices and the ability to continuously monitor glucose levels and connect the CGM to the insulin pump for accurate insulin delivery has changed the lives of patient suffering from diabetes. ATTD 2022 made it clear that today’s connected care diabetes solutions are only the beginning. From pediatric to gestational diabetes, new digital health innovations were presented throughout the range of diabetes challenges. 

Elad Fisher - Pre-Sales & Technical Sales Manager

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Heart Rhythm - San Francisco

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year - one person dies every 36 seconds. Disease management and appropriate treatment can prevent premature deaths. Therefore it is little wonder that remote patient monitoring was a major focus of the discussion at Heart Rhythm as leading figures in the world of cardiology gathered to share information.  

Key takeaway: Digital tech UX is the differentiator

There are many major companies offering devices to monitor, manage and treat chronic cardiac conditions; Medtronic, Abbott, and Boston Scientific to name a few. There is very little difference between the hardware solutions being offered. This places an emphasis on the software interfaces used by clinicians and patients. Our observation was that many companies appear to have produced a software interface without refining the UX (user experience.) Enabling smooth operations by end-users with be the deciding factor in who stands out in this crowded market. 

Guy Vinograd - Co-Founder & CTO

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ATA - Boston

The American Telemedicine Association conference was a veritable ‘who’s who’ of digital health solutions. Focusing on what is needed to establish telehealth as a permanent modality of care delivery, the conference hosted clinicians, industry experts, and stakeholders from around the US and internationally. 

Key takeaway: Integrating multiple devices requires less fragmentation in the market

Although telehealth platforms have made significant progress in the last few years, we identified a number of challenges facing manufacturers. The first was integration with EHR and EMR systems. These notoriously cumbersome systems might still be the gatekeepers to full adoption. It is also apparent that there is a growing need to integrate data collected from multiple devices, including wearable devices, to enrich patient data and provide a complete picture for the care provider. With the current marketing being fragmented and so many manufacturers creating their own platforms, providing the holistic data needed will be a challenge. 

Daniel  Adler - CEO & Co-Founder

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DeviceTalks - Boston

DeviceTalks hosted an array of players in the medical device ecosystem, from product development managers to regulatory experts and investors. By bringing together such a wide selection of professionals, DeviceTalks sought to ‘overcome bottlenecks’ in the critical stages of bringing new innovation to market. 

Key takeaways: It won’t be 2021, but 2022 holds promise for investment

There was an impressive number of exciting new device technologies presented as part of the MedTech Innovator program. Connectivity played a major part in the offerings presented. One of the main discussion points was how the current market atmosphere will impact investments in device innovation and the overall funding atmosphere. Among people that we spoke with, the general consensus was that although it is unlikely to reach the heights of 2021, it is likely that 2022 will continue to be a strong year for investments. 

Daniel  Adler - CEO & Co-Founder

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