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For those of you who have been to a JPM Healthcare Conference in San Francisco (held every January), you understand it’s like no other event as there’s actually no singular Conference Event at the Moscone Center. In fact, there are no activities at any convention center in SF. For those of you who haven’t attended, it’s an amazing cluster of about a dozen events at hotels throughout the city – with the headliner being the public company CEO presentations at the Westin Hotel in Union Square. What started as a way for JPM to highlight its focus on life sciences and healthcare, and an excuse to get out of New York in January, has become one of the major gatherings of industry executives annually.

Having this concentration of business leaders in one place leads to the rest of us tolerating expensive hotel rooms while experiencing some of SF’s less desirable street experiences but lots of good food too!

Besides the benefit of one-on-one meetings with key industry executives (from companies large, small, and pre-revenue innovators), one benefit of JPM each year is the vocal constructive criticisms of our U.S. healthcare system. When you’re involved (as we are) with key thought leaders at companies such as MDT, Stryker, J&J, and industry start-ups, one is in awe of the talent in this industry that’s unleashing amazing technology for all our benefit. As we get older, we appreciate that more each day.

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With that stated, our healthcare system needs help from government policy which is often currently counter-productive to a more efficient health system and to better outcomes.

Some of the key observations from this year include:

1. The need for a uniform and transparent way for patients to compare prices. Putting cost transparency into our system will help with cost/benefit decision making and better choices.

2. While we’ve begun to rate hospital quality scorecards, we have a long way to go for specific providers. There needs to be a system beyond subjective Twitter and Yelp comments.

3. Ability to obtain healthcare across state lines. The current telehealth system highlights the absurdity of current regulation where we can get telehealth from our provider reimbursed providing we’re located in our state but we can’t when we’re out of state. Think about that one!

4. Policies that encourage (not discourage) rapid home testing, monitoring and treatment across disease states (beyond COVID-19). Imagine the savings and healthcare benefits that could come from that!

In summary, while logistically, the JPM Healthcare conference (with its 20+ venues) isn’t easily navigated, is it worth it? Our answer is yes, as there continues to be value in live meetings even in our post-COVID-19 Zoom culture. There are simply conversations that happen in-person that don’t occur on a virtual call.

Does our industry need help from common sense policy in Washington, DC? YES – but we aren’t holding our breath. Meanwhile, we continue to applaud our industry leaders working to make a difference each day despite the policy headwinds.

About the authors: CCEO Florence Joffroy-Black is a long-time MedTech M&A and marketing expert. She can be reached at florencejblack@medworldadvisors.com. Managing Director Dave Sheppard is a former medical OEM Fortune 500 executive and an experienced MedTech M&A professional. He can be reached at davesheppard@medworldadvisors.com. “Value = Strategic Fit + Timing® is a registered trademark of MedWorld Advisors.