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The challenges facing the healthcare technology sector in Spain were addressed at the I Great Health Forum of elEconomista.es, where Hersill manager, Oscar M. Jordan, gave voice to Spanish companies that compete in such a complex environment as that of healthcare technology, through his participation in the round table dedicated to this industry.
The importance of innovation was one of the highlights of the debate, which was also attended by Pablo Crespo, Secretary General of the Spanish Federation of Health Technology Companies (Fenin), and Daniel Soto, Director of Strategic Accounts for Spain and Portugal of Medtronic.
For Oscar Jordan, one of the keys to boosting research in this area in our country is the enhancement of collaboration between different actors in the health system: industry, hospitals and emergency agencies, universities and research centres, which is where knowledge is generated. “In Spain, we have the potential to carry out this collaboration, something that already occurs in other developed countries,” he said. In his opinion, these synergies between the different actors can give rise to a virtuous circle that results in the boost of innovation, the strengthening of the industrial fabric, economic development and the generation of jobs.
In the same vein, Pablo Crespo highlighted the importance of a culture of investment in technology that positions Spain as a country at the forefront of patient care. “It is not easy that Spanish companies like Hersill, which manufacture in our country, are able to survive, because we do not have a friendly environment to be able to invest in technology and to make them competitive. It is difficult for them to bring their products to the Spanish market and instead they export their products because unfortunately the brand Spain has more prestige abroad,” he said.
In his opinion, “it is time to change the mentality and talk about a country strategy that favours a local industry that makes us less dependent on other countries as we were able to see with COVID”. Both he and the Hersill manager also agreed that the public procurement system should favour smaller companies more. During the meeting, the importance of the INVEAT Plan for the modernization of the health system was highlighted, although the participants in the round table also called for support for devices that, not being high-tech, are fundamental in patient care.
Conclusions
As a final reflection, the Hersill manager expressed that the healthcare system should recognize more the value of the Spanish technology industry. “This support is very important for patients, for the economic development of the country and for a more powerful healthcare system”, he concluded.
From his side, the Secretary General of Fenin called for a health strategy that relies on investment in technology, purchasing models based on quality rather than price, and a regulatory environment that guarantees the competitiveness and viability of this industry, as well as measures such as indexation of contracts, the reduction of VAT of health products, promote the incorporation of innovation and take advantage of the digitization environment and the data generated by the industry to advance the transformation of the health system.
For the Medtronic representative, there are three fundamental needs: courage, through risk-sharing models, mixed contracts and longer-term strategies; generosity, in sharing best practices and replicable models; and determination to make real change happen.
