In an interview with SmartTRAK, Gennaro Broya de Lucia, president of the National Board of Directors at PMI Sanità, offers a comprehensive summary of the challenges for the medical device market in Italy, which places hundreds of companies at risk in the country.

In an interview with SmartTRAK, Dr. Willi Schnorpfeil, an expert in reimbursement strategies, offers a comprehensive overview of the regulatory changes for advanced wound care products in Germany, which pose a potential threat to both market stability and patient care.

In an interview with SmartTRAK, Dr. Willi Schnorpfeil, managing partner of Value & Dossier and Reimbursement Specialist, provides insights into the scope, impact and potential future developments of changes in Germany’s reimbursement landscape, specifically concerning the Advanced Wound Dressing Market. Dr. Schnorpfeil highlights the challenges faced by the industry in meeting new evidence requirements and the possible implications for patient outcomes. This conversation sheds light on the complex regulatory environment in Germany and its broader implications for the healthcare sector across Europe.

Click on the video below to listen to SmartTRAK’s interview with Dr. Schnorpfeil (24:18 minutes), which was recorded on August 22. A link to download the complete transcript of the interview is also provided below. 

Increasing acceptance of diagnostics, as well as the repositioning of existing technologies, could help drive growth in European wound care.

Pressure injuries are globally accepted as a major healthcare challenge. SmartTRAK estimates there were 10.2MM pressure ulcers in Europe in 2022, with 4.0MM being stage III or IV. At the 23rd European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) meeting recently held in Leeds, UK, the main focus of the meeting was on diagnosing and treating the more challenging stage III/IV pressure ulcers. In this downloadable article SmartTRAK explores how diagnostics continues to be a major driver of innovation within the space and how companies and products previously focused on treatment are now firmly positioning themselves within the prevention space, where SmartTRAK will soon offer brand-new insights.

Among the many topics covered in the article are:

• Diagnostics
  The perception of diagnostic tools within European wound care appears to be evolving. Previously, they had been viewed as aspirational but unaffordable luxuries, but are now becoming ...
  
  
• Wound Treatments
  There was a distinct lack of new technologies for the treatment of pressure injuries on display in the exhibition, with existing dressings and negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) being the main solutions on stands. New treatment solutions were ...
  
  
• Dressings for Pressure Injury Prevention
  Historically, clinicians have used dressings designed for managing open wounds as a method of pressure injury prevention. In the last decade, more and more dressings companies have been recognizing the possibilities offered within this market. Published evidence suggests ...
  
  To download and read the complete "Prevention Proves Better than Cure for European Dressing Companies" perspective article by SmartTRAK's  Aniko Szeker, Sr Analyst, Wound and Kris Finn, Sr Analyst, Wound, please click the button below.

Csaba Dózsa, habil PhD MSc, Health Economist, discusses his model for cost-effectiveness in the prevention and treatment of pressure injuries in an interview with SmartTRAK.

In this interview, Prof. Dózsa unveils his groundbreaking pressure injury (PI) prevention costing model. With a 20-year background in health economics, he embarked on this journey from Hungary's National Health Insurance Fund. His expertise shaped the German DRG point system locally and steered home care development. Establishing Med-Econ Ltd., he delved into diverse health economic studies, culminating in a sophisticated, non-linear model for PI prevention costs.

The model's complexity stems from recognizing intricate healthcare inputs and outcomes. It calculates annual PI costs across scenarios: implementing preventive care bundles with or without multi-layer dressings, and treatment-only approaches. Designed as a calculation framework, it showcases the efficacy of preventive wound care.

Among the many questions answered by Prof, Dózsa in this interview are:

• Can this model be used in any health and political environment?
• How does the use of this model affect a hospital's use of dressings?
• How would you describe the cost structure of prevention and treatment?
• Can this model and its outcome lead to systemic changes?
• How long would it take a hospital or hospital system to adapt the model to their data?
• Can this model be used equally in the case of higher-risk patients, older patients or in hospitals that see proportionally more of these patients?

The interview, conducted by Anikó Szekér, SmartTRAK Senior Analyst, Wound Care, offers insights into Prof. Dózsa's journey and his PI prevention costing model's potential. To download a complete transcript of the interview, just click the button below.

---

Sofia Heddson Fransén, Essity’s Global Solution Owner, Intelligent Medical Solutions discusses the Company’s recent digital app launch as well as current and future trends in the digital field in an interview with SmartTRAK at SAWC Fall 2022.

Digital healthcare plays an increasingly important role in healthcare today. In the face of global concerns related to epidemics and pandemics, high costs and the effects of staff shortages, digital health-related technology continues to grow in importance and evolve. A broad scope of stakeholders are involved in the digital health field, including patients, practitioners, application developers and medical device manufacturers and distributors.

To find out more about Essity and the Company’s initiatives around digital solutions in wound care, click the video below to listen to the interview in which Sofia Heddson Fransén, Essity’s Global Solution Owner, Intelligent Medical Solutions, discusses the Company’s recent digital app launch and what the current and future trends in the digital field (05.33 min) are. A link to download the complete interview transcript is also provided below.

Ragna Ouwerkerk, PR Manager at Mediq, discusses the Company and its recent acquisitions in an interview with SmartTRAK.

Mergers and acquisitions have become an attractive business strategy for companies in the wound care space considering to expand into new markets or territories, reach a competitive edge or obtain new technologies. One company looking to strengthen its leadership position in the European wound care market through acquisitions is  Mediq.

Mediq is a Dutch healthcare company founded in 1899 by ninety-one pharmacists as a type of buying group to check the quality of raw materials and medicines. In 2021, Mediq provides pharmaceuticals and medical devices to patients and healthcare facilities globally. Recently, the Company decided to take a major step forward and has had a flurry of acquisitions in the last few months of which some strengthened the presence of the company in some European countries and another helped to enter the UK market.

SmartTRAK: The Company has recently acquired Medirum AB in Sweden, Puls AS in Norway, H&R Healthcare Ltd in the UK, GD Medical AG in Switzerland and Replant 4 Care in Hungary. Mediq also intends to acquire Eurocept Homecare and Da Vinci Kliniek in the Netherlands. What was your thinking behind those acquisitions?

SmartTRAK examines the Top 5 countries in Europe during the time of COVID-19 and estimates how the Advanced Wound Dressing Market will be impacted in 2020 and 2021.

Using an elbow bump instead of a handshake or hug is not the only new routine people have learned during the pandemic. As winter arrives with an expected surge in COVID-19, healthcare systems and services in Europe are building on lessons learned from the spring outbreak to help shape the way health services will be delivered in the coming months.

Amid this pandemic, several factors are affecting growth in the European Advanced Dressings Market, which is projected to reach ~$2.07B (€1.85B) by 2024 according to SmartTRAK estimates. In this article, SmartTRAK reviews how the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved in Europe and how it is impacting the market for Advanced Dressings in France, Germany, the UK, Spain and Italy.