21st Century Cures Act a Win for Patients, Innovation

Following House and Senate passage, on Dec. 13 President Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act, representing the culmination of more than two years of work by the House and Senate as well as many stakeholder groups including AdvaMed members. The final legislation is very positive for the medtech community, and when fully implemented, will help accelerate the discovery, development and delivery of medical advancements to ensure more timely access to new treatments and cures for patients in need.

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Trump Names Next HHS Secretary, CMS Administrator

The Trump administration recently announced two nominations for positions that will be important to shaping policy that impacts medical technology innovation: Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Seema Verma to be the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Congressman Price is an orthopedic surgeon with a deep history on issues impacting patient access to medical technology.

LCI 2016: A Year in Review

AdvaMed's Life Changing Innovation campaign focuses on building awareness, understanding and appreciation for the value of medical technology to patients, the economy, and the U.S. health care system overall. Our efforts center on creating a "surround sound" that ensures that influential audiences in Washington, DC and across the country are seeing, reading and hearing AdvaMed's Life Changing Innovation story -- and in 2016 we delivered. Here are some of the highlights:

- We reached nearly 25 million people with our content, highlighting advances in medtech to treat cancer, diabetes, chronic pain and a host of other diseases and conditions.
- Our social media followers interacted with our content nearly 55,000 times.
- We launched a Medium page dedicated to sharing the lasts trends in innovation.
- Our patient videos were viewed more than 1.25 million times.
- We placed a dozen stories and op-eds in national and local publications.

Radiotherapy Saved My Life

In an op-ed that ran on Dec. 12 in the Cape Cod Times, BMX superstar and med tech champion Josh Perry recounts his fight against a brain tumor, and the medical technology that saved his life. A fortunate MRI following a BMX fall exposed for the first time a tumor on the left side of Josh's brain. His tumor was surgically removed, but a routine follow-up showed two more inoperable growths. Medical technology provided an alternative solution to surgery. Josh became one of more than a million patients who have been saved by a form radiotherapy called stereotactic radiosurgery. Josh notes, "if I had been diagnosed with this condition 20 years ago, I probably would not be alive today."

Dec. 12: Medical technology a driving Force behind efforts to reduce opioid use

Dec. 12: Low-cost paper-based skin patch monitors dehydration by changing color from sweat

Nov. 30: Why this robotic medical device belongs in a museum

Nov. 30: Electronic smart bandage opens doors for personalized medicine

Learn about how the suspension of the medical device tax has helped create jobs, and spur R&D and innovation in the medtech industry.

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How has medical technology created life changing innovation for you? Tell us today!