Women in MedTech Champion Award announced

At the Women in MedTech Breakfast Seminar MTAA announced a new industry award category for the “WiMT Champion”. 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 winner will be announced at the MTAA Conference Dinner in Sydney on Wednesday 1 November 2017.

Please download and complete a nomination form, address the criteria and send your application to secretary@mtaa.org.au by Friday 15 September 2017.  Full details on nomination criteria and how to nominate are on the website.

MedTech 2017 International Guest Speakers announced

MTAA is proud to announce our international keynote speakers:

Dr Dora Hughes, Former Health Advisor to President Barack Obama

Dr Hughes assisted with the development and early implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and she held a leadership roles on several White House groups. She is uniquely placed to provide insight on the current healthcare reform debate going on in Washington and where she thinks the Trump administration will eventually land.

Richie Etwaru, Chief Digital Officer QuintilesIMS

A frequent keynote speaker at leading tech-related events and forums, Richie casts a vision of a technologically enabled healthcare system in the near future. He is also a entrepreneur who has started several companies, as well as an author and regular contributor to Forbes.com, CIO.com and Huffington Post. Richie will discuss the opportunity and implications of blockchain in healthcare as a paradigm to slow/chose the expanding trust gap in commerce.

Dr Dora Hughes will close the plenary on Day 1 – Wednesday 1st November and

Richie Etwaru will discuss the hot topic – Blockchain on Day 2 – Thursday 2nd November.

International Guest Speaker sponsorship opportunities are available with great exposure and benefits.  For more details on sponsorship, please contact Jennifer Ellis at jellis@mtaa.org.au

Upcoming Webinar on Restraint August 17th

In Australia nearly a 1/4 of all new employees will leave their job within their first year (23%). Staff turnover and the threat of ex-employees costs businesses in salary, resources, opportunity cost, loss of efficiency, the damaging results of problems with work performed, replacement costs and cultural issues for the company.

Our webinar is a reminder of restraint basics and case examples to demonstrate how you can protect the business when employees move on. There will also be the opportunity for questions and follow up discussion with Caitilin Watson of Atkinson Vinden Lawyers.

MedTech Industry Briefing – Australian Breast Device Registry

Previous debate on the safety of high-risk implantable breast devices fueled the need for a national registry tracking device performance and patient well-being. The Australian Breast Device Registry (ABDR) led by Monash University, an independent data steward, facilitates real time knowledge to identify possible trends and complications associated with breast devices and surgery. The briefing will be held at MTAA on Thursday, 31 August 2017 4pm-5:30pm AEST.

Women in MedTech Breakfast Seminar a success

Last week MTAA hosted another successful Woman in MedTech (WiMT) event.

The sell-out audience of over 120 women and men enjoyed Cochlear’s high-tech campus at Macquarie University for an early morning breakfast to hear speakers share their thoughts on opportunities they took, the need to be confident in your abilities, how they overcame challenges and celebrating their triumphs.

MTAA would like to thank Deborah Harrigan (Orijen), Lisa Emerson (Cochlear), Belinda Ramirez (Medtronic) and Walter D’Avolio (Cochlear) for their time and sharing their insights with the audience.

Lyn Davies (Turnstall Health) facilitated the event that touched on topics such as confidence, opportunity, women in management, work styles, overall progress in gender equality in corporate Australia as well as the “glass ceiling”.

MedTech2017 is less than 90 days away!

The Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA) Annual Conference is less than 90 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 full program is now available at the Medtech2017 website.

Register by Thursday, 31 August to get the early bird 15% discount!

The A.I. Race and what does it mean for MedTech?

With less than 90 days away before the MTAA Annual Conference – MedTech2017 – we look forward to hearing from both Andrew Charlton from AlphaBeta and Adrian Turner from Data61 about the future of automation and preparing our workforce for this new reality.

Yesterday a report commissioned by Google and prepared by AlphaBeta was released that shows how Australia can seize a $2 trillion opportunity from automation and create millions of safer, more meaningful and more valuable jobs.

But as Andrew Charlton explains if those workers aren't successfully transitioned, then you lose all the productivity gains. And you have all of the problems associated with long-term unemployment. We will be exploring these issues during our session with both Andrew and Adrian on Day 2 of the annual conference.

If you’d like to see what Andrew Charlton and Adrian Turner have to say watch the ABC news story.

TGA Update

The TGA has updated its guidance on conducting meetings with sponsors, manufacturers and agents, which has been previously covered in the Australian Regulatory Guidelines for Prescription Medicines (ARGPM) Appendix 5. The updated guidance is for applicants requiring pre-submission meetings related to applications:

• To enter therapeutic goods in the ARTG
• For designation of prescription medicines
• For TGA Conformity Assessment Certification of medical devices

Pre-submission meetings are most beneficial for new or emerging technologies (novel medical devices), device medicine combination products, or specific regulatory issues for therapeutic goods with multiple applications.

The TGA recommends that applicants request pre-submission meetings for the following medical devices (dependent upon route of application):

• novel medical devices (including IVD and HIV self-tests)
• those used in urogynaecological procedures

"I Have Regulatory Approval – What’s Next?"

A discussion about Selling Medical Devices towards 2020

This half-day event will assist your company to develop an understanding of the challenges of the rapidly changing medical device marketing environment.

• Learn the steps involved in achieving reimbursement for new Medical Devices (from the USA, UK and Australia to the processes of China, Japan and more!)
• Understand the importance of the inclusion of Health Economics to support your company’s application
• The discussion will also address some of the barriers that companies experience when they attempt to commercialise their innovative technology and sell into both domestic and international markets
• An essential discussion on the impact of digitization, Industry 4.0 and entering into National & International Markets
  

The event will be held at the TechIn SA Conference Centre, South Australia on Wednesday 6 September 2017.

Indonesia-Australia Standards Trade Enabling Survey

The National Standards Bodies of Indonesia and Australia, Badan Standardisasi Nasional (BSN) and Standards Australia (SA), are undertaking a Standards Trade Enabling Mapping Study to help inform the IA-CEPA negotiations and stakeholders on the opportunities for enhanced standards harmonisation, technical alignment and regulatory coherence.

Feedback is sought from Indonesian and Australia stakeholders on where standards harmonisation could be undertaken to support the successful development and implementation of the Technical Barriers to Trade chapter of IA-CEPA. The survey is open from 24 July 2017 until 4 September 2017

Blockchain in Healthcare Summit 24 October 2017

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. 

Code for you MTAA members to receive 10% off MTAA_10

Healthcare Leaders Forum 22-23 August 2017

Gathering senior leaders from across the public and private healthcare spectrum, the annual Healthcare Leaders Forum equips executives with the insights they need to adapt and succeed in a dynamic climate. 

Harness the latest insights and opportunities surrounding personalised healthcare, industry reform and innovation – delivered by and designed for the leading influencers in healthcare.

MTAA members receive an additional 10% off the registration pass. Simply enter the code MTAA10 on registering.