AdvaMed Advance at the 2023 MedTech Conference

Digital Health’s Role in Diverse Clinical Trials

The digital age has changed how we live, work, and interact with each other. In the clinical trial space, it presents an opportunity to reach new patient populations while recognizing the challenge of potentially alienating others. New legislation is helping to prioritize diversity and health equity across healthcare and will lead to additional expectations of diversity for manufacturers. Speakers discuss the use of methods and technologies such as remote monitoring, decentralized trials, and agile recruitment as well as how we can re-evaluate our processes and current guidances to enable greater patient engagement in a world where health inequalities persist.

From Words to Practice – How to Make Health Care Equity a Reality

Health disparities are pervasive and persistent. State of the art treatments are often unavailable to the uninsured, or charged at eyewatering rates. Based on a recent ZS study, Black, Hispanic and Asian consumers are 20% more likely to agree with the statement, “The health care system doesn’t care about people like me.” Diagnosis and treatment rates of heart disease in women lag that of men substantially. Medtech is well positioned to advance the health equity cause by investing in the right initiatives with the right partners. In this session, ZS Associates talk with industry executives about strategies and on-the-ground efforts to drive real change in health equity.

Retention as a Linchpin for Driving the Medtech Industry Forward

Embracing diversity and fostering an inclusive work environment has become critical for attracting and retaining top talent. This session aims to shed light on initiatives that can have a significant impact on employee retention. Panelists discuss best practices to cultivate an inclusive culture that ultimately empowers employees to reach their full potential and encourages them to stay committed to their organization.

The What, Why, and How to Innovate for Women’s Health

A growing number of initiatives and organizations have emerged to advance the development of femtech and women’s health technologies, including addressing the alarmingly high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity. Despite this progress, femtech faces challenges overcoming commercialization hurdles. Panelists from organizations that have fostered support for the growing femtech space will share valuable insights that can be adopted into any MedTech company’s business strategy. This session highlights success stories of developing femtech solutions in an era where there is an increasing recognition of need for new women’s health technology solutions and provide all audience members with lessons learned for innovation and commercialization that can be integrated in their own innovation strategy.

Tomorrow’s Innovations Start with Today’s Youth: Developing and Recruiting Diverse STEM Talent Before College

Twenty-first century needs have amplified the critical importance for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs. Yet, many countries across the globe continue to face STEM worker shortages. The U.S. alone will need approximately one million more STEM workers in 2031 than it did in 2021. And the medtech industry will be among those with the greatest needs for such talent. This panel looked at how the medtech industry can help address this issue and why reaching future innovators before they start college is the key.

Why Having a Diversity Program is the Right Thing to Do

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion issues are fairly new to be intertwined into the healthcare discussion in the recent past. As organizations move to embrace a more diverse culture, they are left trying to understand what is needed to help make this a reality to better serve patients and the broader communities where they live and work. There are many advantages to having a program in place to address these important issues. This panel discusses practical examples on how organizations are implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within their businesses, and share learnings on how to drive momentum and achieve success to help advance the principles and improve quality of life in a profound way.