by
Gus Iversen, Editor in Chief | September 23, 2015
From the September 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
As the largest health industry trade show on Earth, MEDICA draws an annual crowd of roughly 130,000 visitors — and 4,800 exhibitors — from 66 nations.
The event will be held Nov. 16-19 at the Messe Düsseldorf convention center in Düsseldorf, Germany. Aside from the show’s global draw and sheer volume of attendees, it is also unusual because it is thrown by the same organization that owns the fairgrounds. Health- Care Business News spoke to Joachim Schäfer, the managing director of Messe Düsseldorf, to find out what visitors can expect this year.
HCBN: What can first time visitors do to maximize their experiences atMEDICA?
JS: The first thing is prepare. Don’t just get on the plane, get here, and walk around. Use the various research tools that we make available on the Web. Not only in terms of a directory, but there are search engines implanted on the Web so that you can create your own little catalog — your own “my MEDICA” agenda of things to see and people to visit.
It can truly be overwhelming. We have 19 buildings occupied by what we believe to be the most international and finest technology around. And with over 5,000 companies between MEDICA and COMPAMED, it can be easily overwhelming. That, combined with jetlag, can really do you in.
Take the approach of walking the aisles and taking in the technology as well as the true internationality, because this event has become increasingly international. Germany contributed 39 percent of the attendance. The other 61 percent come from outside of Germany, not just the surrounding European countries, but increasingly the Middle East, Asia, and other regions.
HCBN: For health care professionals who are unsure if they should attend MEDICA, what should they be asking themselves?
JS: Everyone is different. If you are a health care professional out of the health care delivery system then I think the impetus for coming is, well, nowhere else will you see such a spectrum of technology and methodologies and treatment regimes as at a show like this.
We have a relatively large set of people who come out of the business side of distributing and trading in the field of health care technology. They buy, distribute, import — if you’re on that side then I think you will not find a better place to find the newest and finest upstarts from various countries that maybe you want to be the first to sign a representation agreement with.
The third type — and not that this is the full spectrum of attendees — but if you’re coming from the insurance side, governmental regulatory institutional side, then you can come be exposed to a number of conferences and special exhibits to see how health care delivery is enacted and played out in various parts of the world due to different regulatory and insurance systems, and maybe there are things that are worthwhile to be learned.
