MEDICAL WORLD AMERICAS TALKS INNOVATION
Conference Opens Dialogue About the Role of Technology in the Healthcare Industry
HOUSTON, TX– Medical World Americas Conference & Expo (MWA) welcomed 2,537 health professionals on May 18-20, 2016 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. In collaboration with the Texas Medical Center (TMC), the three-day conference created a forum for multi-disciplinary, open dialogue among health professionals about innovation and technology’s overall impact to the medical industry and patient care.
Aptly themed “Innovate: Transforming Health Through Disruption and Discovery,” Medical World Americas featured a world-class roster of speakers, including prominent innovators Dean Kamen, founder of DEKA Research and Joe Kiani, founder and CEO of Masimo Corporation, who headlined the event. Throughout the conference, attendees heard from other medical industry leaders, including Lynda Chin, M.D., Director of the Institute for Health Transformation at the University of Texas, who launched the Institute to transform healthcare delivery through the use of technology, data, and analytics.
“Medical World Americas continues to raise the bar, offering high caliber content and facilitating cross-functional dialogue amongst the medical community” said Robert C. Robbins, M.D., president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center. “This year in particular was the most superior content we ever had, from world-renowned innovator Dean Kamen to the closing plenary The Promise and Perils of Precision Medicine, which was the single best session on genomics I have ever seen.”
The American College of Healthcare Executives SouthEastTexasChapter (ACHE-SETC) complemented Medical World Americas’ originally-produced content with their own, fully integrated program. Expanding the educational experience, each session encouraged further collaboration among its members on topics such as healthcare trends and the impact of entrepreneurship on the healthcare industry.
In addition to the education-based programming, Medical World Americas hosted a series of co-located events including PwC’s exclusive CEO Forum, which invited healthcare CEOs from around the world to participate in a roundtable discussion. Each panelist represented a different area of the healthcare ecosystem, including providers, payors, pharma & life science, private equity and new entrants. The Texas Tribune hosted the first of a three-part conversation about the state of healthcare in Texas, featuring expert panelists Vivian Ho, Chair in Health Economics; Thomas Kim, Chief Medical Officer at Med2You; Elena Marks, President and CEO of the Episcopal Health Foundation; and Jonathan MacClements, Assistant Dean for Graduate Medical Education for the Dell Medical Schools at the University of Texas at Austin. Other notable events included the American Marketing Association of Houston’s “1-2-3 Product Launch” series, inviting Chief Marketing Officers of life sciences start-ups to speak about their success in engaging customers right out of the gate.
As a collaborative partner, the Texas Medical Center (TMC) presented special events including the TMC Student Poster Competition and the Texas Start-Up Pitch Competition. The TMC Student Poster Competition encouraged current students of the TMC institutions to submit original abstract posters related to the innovation theme of the conference. The Texas Start-Up Pitch Competition invited start-ups from across the state to pitch their innovative technologies to key stakeholders at the TMC. The technologies were required to solve real-world problems that currently impacts healthcare institutions.
In addition to the content, MWA hosted a product expo with companies showcasing innovative technologies. “Our goal was to introduce technology solutions to the Texas Medical Center and all of the institutions on the campus. We were successful and identified several new opportunities. MWA was a well-coordinated conference and well received” said David Lopez, Conference Technologies, Inc®
Rounding out the conference, Medical World Americas hosted the MWA 2016 Job Fair, powered by JobMedic for mid-career professionals and healthcare students graduating from their program and the TMC Hiring Red, White and You event for Veterans. Over 45 TMC institutions and companies were on hand to interview the candidates.
About Medical World Americas
Convening May 18-20, 2016, at George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Medical World Americas (MWA) unites public and private sector health care leaders for a collaborative exchange of ideas and innovations focused on advancing the health of our communities. The event is produced in collaboration with the Texas Medical Center by Messe Düsseldorf North America and Houston First Corporation. www.medicalworldamericas.com
