Originally Published MX January/February 2006
EDITOR'S PAGE
Changing for Tomorrow
Rapid technological change is a widespread and familiar phenomenon. But such change rarely succeeds without considerable analysis of current conditions, careful thought about future needs, and a lot of expert guidance.
This year, the medical device industry will mark the 30th anniversary of its creation through congressional enactment of the Medical Device Amendments of 1976. Over the intervening years, medtech companies have become increasingly mature business enterprises and have compiled an impressive track record for advancing healthcare and its technologies. But it's fair to guess that few in the device industry will be spending much of this year looking back on those achievements. Instead, medtech leaders will devote their efforts to developing new products to meet the current and future needs of healthcare professionals and their patients.
With industry's bias toward the future in mind, this issue's feature, "The Medtech Marketplace in 2006", takes a look at the coming prospects for several of medtech's most active sectors. And in a companion article, "The Future of Wound Care", authors Stuart Jackson and Jeff Stevens describe expectations for the emerging field of active wound care products.
Providing expert guidance to help MX stay on top of changing market conditions, competitive developments, finance trends, and public policy issues will be one of the functions of the magazine's new editorial advisory board. The first members of the board are announced in this issue's article, "Expertise in Change", and form two separate councils on information technologies and reimbursement affairs.
Additional members of the MX editorial advisory board will be announced throughout 2006, creating a series of councils that will include experts from industry, government, finance, legal affairs, and academic organizations.
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