Te Pātaka Whaioranga – Pharmac attends HealthTech week

Healthtech Week comprises two parallel conferences. The HealthTech Congress mainly attended by distributors, multinationals and companies supplying into the NZ Health system and the Te Titoki Mataora Forum aimed at the research and innovation community.

“It was a great opportunity to talk to the HealthTech sector about a range of topics – particularly our work with hospital medical devices,” says Director of Strategy, Policy, and Performance Michael Johnson.

After the opening address by Dr Diana Safarti, Johnson led a presentation about ‘moving forward together in a changing environment’.

“In the presentation, we discussed our progress on the recommendations from the Pharmac Review and the Government response,” says Johnson. “We focussed on our role in the national management of hospital medical devices and our work with Te Whatu Ora to create a connected, innovative, and collaborative national system that puts people at its core.”

“We referred to our work with hospital medical device suppliers, and how important it is to be mindful of the changing health and disability environment. This includes being clear about the expectations, roles, and responsibilities of Pharmac and Te Whatu Ora.”

“We also discussed some of the joint medical device activity underway with Te Whatu Ora - including our work on health technology assessments."

Te Pātaka Whaioranga – Pharmac’s Manager of Devices Funding, Andrew Davies, also joined a panel discussion on ‘how will NZ hospitals access medtech innovation under the new medical device management structures?’

“It was great to join Chris Morgan from Te Whatu Ora, Professor Jonathan Koea from North Shore Hospital, and Sarah Najdek from Johnson & Johnson to discuss innovation in hospital medical devices,” says Davies.

“We discussed the different considerations we will make when funding a product. Including whether it will improve health outcomes, be more equitable, improve the efficiency of the system, and be more sustainable.”

“We also discussed how we work together, as we move towards a more coordinated approach to the introduction of new hospital medical device technology,” says Davies.

The final Te Pātaka Whaioranga – Pharmac contribution was a presentation at Te Titoki Mataora, a parallel medtech research translator forum, led by Manager of Medical Device Strategy and Development team, Danae Staples-Moon.

“It was fantastic to talk to people developing cutting-edge health technologies at Te Tītoki Mataora,” says Staples-Moon.

“We discussed a variety of topics, with a focus on who we [Te Pātaka Whaioranga – Pharmac] are, what we’re doing in the hospital medical devices space, and how we assess the relative value of medicines and medical technology – both now and into the future.”

“We also discussed the future of Te Pātaka Whaioranga – Pharmac’s work with hospital medical devices. We’ve just established a dedicated directorate for hospital medical devices and look forward to our continued collaboration with the health and disability sector – including those who attended the MTANZ conference and Te Tītoki Mataora Forum.”

The conference provided a great opportunity for Pharmac staff, suppliers, and others to kōrero about medical technology. Importantly, suppliers were encouraged to talk with Pharmac if they have hospital medical devices that aren’t yet under a Pharmac contract.

“If you are not sure if your products fall within the scope of our work, you should contact us to discuss. If you’d like to know more about the work we’re doing, please email us or sign up to our bi-monthly ‘device advice’ e-newsletter,” says Staples-Moon.