Medical Devices Competitiveness and Impact on Public Health Expenditure

TLDR

The medical device industry comprises a vast array of products, from basic bandages to advanced bioinformatics‑based devices, and is a major component of healthcare systems and medical technology. This study provides an analytical overview of the European Union medical device industry, investigating its role as an innovative contributor to the economy and a key input to healthcare systems. The analysis examines the impact of device innovation on health costs, the industry's innovativeness, and its competitiveness relative to the United States and Japan.

Abstract

This study provides an analytical overview of the state of the European Union medical device industry. The medical device industry sector encompasses an extremely large variety of products and technologies. It covers hundreds of thousands of products that range from more traditional products, such as bandages or syringes, to sophisticated devices that incorporate bioinformatics, nanotechnology and engineered cells. These are designed for use by practitioners, patients and healthy individuals in a variety of settings: hospitals, surgeries and private homes. Besides being a vital and innovative industry, medical devices are a key component of healthcare systems and represent, together with pharmaceuticals, the bulk of ‘medical technology’. The analysis of the sector must therefore investigate medical devices as an industry – an innovative contributor to the economy – as well its key input to healthcare systems. The following aspects are taken into account: a) the impact of innovation in medical devices on health costs and expenditure; b) the innovativeness of the European medical device industry; c) the competitiveness of the European medical device industry as compared to that of the United States and Japan.