News for medical technology professionals | December 8, 2009
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Looking Back at the Year
AdvaMed year-end commentary
 Stephen J. Ubl, AdvaMed |
Congress is still considering the largest overhaul of the U.S. heath care system. Although I can't predict exactly what the final bill will look like, it's safe to say nearly every segment of the health care system will face changes to the environment they had been living in prior to reform, for better or worse. However, I am convinced that whatever shape health reform takes, the unique and essential role medical technology plays in health care will not only continue, but grow in importance.
Medical technology is rendering previously debilitating or life-ending conditions a thing of the past. Today, diagnostic tests are not only discovering diseases before a patient even feels sick but can target the right treatment, for the right patient, at the right time. With an innovation life cycle of 18 months, better treatments are always just around the corner.
Our industry also contributes significantly to the U.S. economy, providing jobs that pay on average 30% more than the average U.S. job, and every med tech job results in 4.5 additional jobs across the nation. Medical technology is one of only a handful of industries in the U.S. that can rightly claim to lead the world in ingenuity and also be a net exporter.
We are living in the era of the life sciences. The role of medical technology in helping people maintain productive, healthy lives is seen every day around the world, and it underscores the need for more, not less, innovation.
For these and other reasons, I remain bullish about the future of medical technology generally and within the context of health care reform specifically.
--Stephen J. Ubl, President and CEO of AdvaMed |
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| The Year's Top Ten | | |
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Top 10 news stories clicked by SmartBrief readers in the past year.
Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers. Due to the time span, some links may be broken.
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