Author: Team
Private Health Premiums to Rise Another $200 in 2018
The industry association said it welcomed additional powers to the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman (PHIO) to conduct audits of private health insurers. This is a result of MTAA’s calls for such audits and will ensure private health insurers meet their obligations, including passing on every dollar of the $1.1 billion in saving for medical devices.
However, these cuts are significant and will impact on jobs and investment in the medical technology industry.
Despite the premium average due to increase by 3.95% – double the inflation rate – private health insurance companies will be slugging its 13.5 million customers with an additional $200 increase on a family policy come 1 April.
MTAA said it predicted this increase back in November 2017
At a time when the private health insurance sector showed a record $1.39 billion in net profit across the industry, an increase of 11.55% from the previous year.
Surely, there is scope to pass some of that back to customers through reduced premiums, rather than seeking a $200 premium increase.
The MTAA argues that the increasing profits of private health insurers would indicate they should do some belt tightening of their own to keep premium growth at the current inflation rate of 1.9%.
Ian Burgess, Chief Executive Officer of the Medical Technology Association of Australia said:
“Today’s announcement delivers the lowest premium change in 17 years, which can be attributed to the $1.1 billion in savings from the medical device industry.
“MTAA strongly supports the need for a healthy and viable private health insurance sector in Australia.
“But we’ve always maintained that given we represent 10% of private health insurers overall costs a reduction in costs for medical technology would only ever result in a modest reduction in premium increases.
“Unfortunately, it seems the private health insurance industry is asking others to reduce their costs to fund a reduction in premium growth but are reluctant to look to their own books for savings.
“Further, the private health insurance industry should embrace an expansion of the Prostheses List and enable faster access to private market as this will benefit patients and greatly increase the value proposition to its 13.5 million customers.”
Calvary North Adelaide first SA hospital to offer 3D Surgical technology
Calvary North Adelaide has become the first hospital in South Australia to offer the latest in 3D laparoscopic imaging technology for keyhole surgery.
The new 3D Technology provides surgeons with depth perception and a precise spatial view of anatomy that cannot be achieved with traditional 2D systems, allowing greater accuracy, speed and precision for keyhole surgery. Associate Professor Sarah Thompson, Calvary North Adelaide gastrointestinal surgeon, is one of the first to use the new equipment.”
As a surgeon performing complex upper gastrointestinal laparoscopic procedures, the 3D system shortens procedure times and increases spatial awareness, allowing me to see fine detail which is not possible with a 2D system. This latest 3D technology has helped me provide increased precision and better outcomes for my patients,” she said.
Sue Imgraben, Calvary North Adelaide CEO, says “we are proud to be at the forefront of laparoscopic technology. We have an excellent team of surgeons whose feedback on this new technology has been tremendous. We believe our investment positions us as Adelaide’s Laparoscopic Centre of Excellence, continually improving outcomes for our patients.”
As part of the transition to the new technology, Calvary North Adelaide has a team, trained by Olympus, who are proficient in teaching other staff how to maximise the benefits of the new technology.
Calvary North Adelaide’s procedure suite and Day of Surgery Unit includes three procedure rooms and seven theatres specialising in general / colorectal surgery, urology and gynaecology in addition to a broad range of surgical procedures.
St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital installs Australia’s first Olympus 4K ENT Surgical System
St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital has become the first hospital in Australia to install the latest Olympus 4K ENT Surgical System that provides the highest quality images available for laparoscopic surgery. The system is also the first Olympus 4K surgical system sold in Queensland.
The new surgical system delivers four times the detail of current high-definition imaging systems, providing surgeons with the image quality needed to operate more precisely and safely. In addition, the colour reproduction is remarkable allowing greater accuracy, speed and precision.
Laparoscopic or keyhole surgery, is a modern surgical technique that is used to examine or operate on a patient through small incisions in the body. A thin, lighted tube with a camera on the end is used to examine the internal organs or structures. Laparoscopic surgery has many benefits including fewer side effects and risks, along with a shorter recovery time than traditional surgery.
Dr David Morrisey, Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon at St Andrew’s Toowoomba, was one of the first surgeons to use the new 4K equipment.
“The Olympus 4K system has provided vastly improved patient safety for people undergoing sinus and nasal surgery as it allows surgeons like myself, much better visualisation. This enables more complete, safer and efficient surgery for those with nasal and sinus problems and greatly enhances their care,” said Dr Morrisey.
The new equipment has also been beneficial for the St Andrew’s Hospital Gynaecology surgical team. Local Toowoomba Gynaecologist, Dr Brendan Miller explains how the new equipment has helped with gynaecological surgical techniques.
“The Olympus 4K laparoscopic system gives improved vision which is vital for laparoscopic surgery. The enhanced resolution enables smaller ports to be used without compromising vision. Subtle endometriosis can be detected and resected leading to improved outcomes for infertility surgery. Finer visual detail helps in using smaller sutures for laparoscopic suturing,” said Dr Miller.
Olympus has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital having previously delivered equipment and training services to help the Hospital invest in the latest technologies over the years.
St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital sets the benchmark for regional hospitals, with its progressive technology focus and rapid expansion over the past 10 years to service the increasing demand from the region.
The Hospital recently became the first hospital in the Southern Hemisphere to open a purpose-built, state-of-the-art ENDOALPHA ‘blue glass’ theatre featuring Olympus 3D technology. The laparoscopic theatre allows surgeons to undertake precision keyhole surgery.
St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital prides themselves on “leading the way” in healthcare.
“The introduction of new surgical equipment that improves safety and accuracy is of high priority to St Andrew’s Hospital. We have made significant investment in our surgical technology and facilities over recent years to ensure that patients in the region receive the very latest surgical treatment available,” said Mr Fairweather, Chief Executive Officer, St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital.
“This significant milestone positions St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital at the forefront of medical advancements,” said Mr Fairweather.
-ENDS-
Australia’s first Olympus 4K ENT system installed at St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital
The system is also the first Olympus 4K surgical system sold in Queensland.
St Andrew’s Toowoomba CEO Ray Fairweather, and Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon Dr David Morrissey, explain the new system, whilst also discussing the hospital’s vision of technological excellence and investment.
Living with an artificial heart
This video explore’s Device Technologies’ consistent drive for leading edge medical solutions to help patients living with health concerns .
As the sole representative in Australia for SynCardia’s artificial heart, Devices Technologies are able to make a difference to the lives of everyday Australians.
Stryker Named Best Place To Work In 2017
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Stryker South Pacific has been recognised as the #1 Best Place to Work in Australia out of the top 50 employers nationally. This is the fourth time Stryker South Pacific has appeared on the Best Places to Work list.
“We are a company full of truly incredible individuals who work together as one team, with one common purpose: to make healthcare better. Our people consistently go above and beyond to help make a difference to our customers, their patients, and to each other. This award belongs to our people.” – Maurice Ben-Mayor, President Stryker South Pacific.
The organisation behind the study, Great Place to Work, declares that a great workplace is one where you trust the people you work for, have pride in what you do and enjoy the people you work with. In the tenth annual award, medical device company Stryker took out the top spot amongst organisations with 100 – 999 employees.
This is not a one off for the company. Stryker has a proven track record. In 2014, Stryker were ranked #25, before jumping 21 spots to #4 in 2015 and then #2 in 2016. Mr Ben-Mayor puts this down to the strategy of Building the Best Team.
“Attracting and engaging employees is a continuous evolution,” says Mr Ben-Mayor.
“As leaders, we need to ensure it evolves in a positive way and this requires constant focus and attention on all the areas that drive a culture of engagement: trust in the leadership, pride and inspiration in the work you do and the opportunity to do what you do best.”
A strengths-based approach
In fact, Stryker’s unique hiring framework – designed for them in partnership with the Gallup Organisation – focuses on how the strengths and talents of a potential candidate align with the role they are applying for, rather than whether or not they have experience in that particular role.
This philosophy is central to Stryker’s success when it comes to building the best team because it allows employees to shine in roles that fit with what they enjoy doing and with what they do best, rather than ‘pigeon holing’ people into careers based solely on their experience to date.
How does Stryker foster a culture of engagement?
For Mr Ben-Mayor and his Leadership Team, ensuring the company mission – ‘together with our customers, we are driven to make healthcare better’ – is at the heart of everything employees see, hear and do, helps to continually inspire and remind them of the very real human impact of their work.
“Connecting individuals to a bigger purpose is becoming increasingly important, especially as Generation Y makes up a higher percentage of the employee-demographic,” Mr Ben-Mayor says.
As Stryker, no matter from what generation or what position, employees know that at the end of every sale, transaction, medical education training program, phone call, product dispatch, or even internal meeting, there is a patient in need of Stryker’s products or services. This common goal unites everyone behind that common purpose: to make a difference.
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Gavin Fox-Smith on the importance of MedTech in Australia
IT’S TIME FOR MEDTECH TO THRIVE
The paper highlights the societal and economic imperative across Australia to address fundamental challenges and enhance innovation in the local healthcare environment, in order to foster and create an ecosystem in which medtech innovation may thrive.
Key themes from the paper send a strong message to policy makers, industry, and the healthcare community of the opportunity to better foster innovation:
- Better investment in deep technology;
- Overcoming fragmentation;
- Time‐to‐market and value capture;
- More multinational ecosystem investment;
- Increase risk tolerance in investment; and,
- Streamline regulatory frameworks and increase enabling policy approaches.
According to Dr Buzz Palmer, Chief Executive Officer of The Actuator, Australia is ripe, ready and needs to get this right;
“As a nation, Australia is amongst the global best in terms of research capability and capacity to explore and create early‐innovative healthcare solutions. To capitalise on this, Australia needs to collectively pull together resources, consolidate expertise across borders and de‐silo the system to enable the country to truly benefit from its – relatively untapped but outstanding – potential in MedTech.”
The Medical Technology Association of Australia [MTAA] agree that medtech has the power to significantly benefit our population; “Global advances in medical technology over the past 20 years have resulted in a 56 per cent reduction in hospital stays, 25 per cent decline in disability rates, 16 per cent decline in annual mortality and increased life expectancy of approximately 3.2 years.
“At the heart and soul of the medical devices industry are 19,000 dedicated professionals, committed to making a positive difference to patients’ lives through medical technology allowing them to live or to have a quality of life that they otherwise would not have.” a spokesperson said.
Medtronic’s team represents almost 1,000 of those professionals. They understand the responsibility, and aim to advance innovation in a meaningful way so to ensure every Australian who requires access to therapies receive them.
In the worlds of Medtronic:
Let’s be bold, partner and create meaningful innovation for the people who matter most.
The paper ‘When Australia Innovates, the World of Healthcare Changes’ was launched during a ceremony at NSW Parliament House. Speakers included The Hon Minister Matt Kean MP, co-author Dr Buzz Palmer, and Dr Jason Wenderoth – Interventional Neuroradiologist, Australia. Learn more here: http://medtechactuator.com/.
