The health technology sector calls for a specific public procurement plan

The healthcare technology sector is immersed in a process of transformation. However, if this evolution is not accompanied by modifications in the public procurement law, it will not help the industry to achieve the change.

“We need a specific public purchase plan for health. We are talking about investment in equipment, but this can be accompanied by a medium and long-term strategy. “In this sense, David Garcia Calleja, CEO of Bayer Radiology Spain, gives an example such as “make purchase by life cycle”.

This was pointed out during the round table Technological innovation and digitization of healthcare that was held within the framework of the ‘II Symposium on Health Observatory: The Lessons of Covid-19’, organized by EL ESPAÑOL and Invertia.

“If we continue to sell as before, it will be difficult for the products to be used in the best possible way,” he added. Lourdes Lopez, Managing Director of Becton Dickison (BD) in Spain and Portugal.

And it is that, for the sector, the transformation of the sanitary model “has to be accompanied by this normative transformation”, as García Calleja has indicated.

Digitization

The digitization The health system is being one of the most debated topics during the symposium. And, the pandemic has accelerated this process in all sectors. Also in healthcare technology.

“Digitization and technology are nothing more than tools that have to help us for the well-being of the patient, facilitate the work of professionals and the sustainability of the system,” he said. Nuria Sabate Franch, responsable de Life Science de Accenture.

For his part, López pointed out that “digitization has to be more holistic and we must put people at the center.” Therefore, all processes must be taken into account. “If we automate one part of the process but the rest, we lose all efficiency because you cannot use the data that you have obtained in the automated part,” exemplified the CEO of BD.

The comprehensive approach seems to be the key to transforming the sector. At least he thinks so Carlos Fernandez Catalan, CEO of Fresenius Medical Care.

“La Industry has the responsibility of helping administrations in interoperability, process integration, and patient approach. It is key that as an industry we request and favor a comprehensive approach. “

And it is that, the ultimate end must be the patient and their safety. “Innovation and digitization must bring very clear and certain benefits for the patient and for the health system,” added the CEO of Fresenius.

Another key to the evolution of the sector is the given. “We are flooded with data, but the data itself is nothing. It is the raw material, but the important thing is to find the behavior patterns. There are tools, but we need the talent,” said Sabate Franch.

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