Cleveland Clinic’s annual Medical Innovation Summit begins Monday, packed with its usual lineup of big-name medical device CEOs, healthcare heavyweights, media personalities and, this year, Dick Cheney.
The summit annually tackles a major health issue (last year: obesity. This year: cardiology). And this is the largest summit ever: 1,000-plus attendees with most falling into one of a few buckets: drug and device execs, venture and angel investors, investment bankers and industry analysts.
What to expect? Health systems have few megaconferences. If you’re comparing, Mayo Clinic’s Transform Conference is like the TED of healthcare while the Innovation Summit is like a medical version of the World Investment Conferences.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Both the Mayo and Cleveland Clinic conferences talk about the future of healthcare. But while Mayo’s heavy on creativity and delivers a raft of post-conference video, Cleveland Clinic will showcase the future of healthcare from the idea of best investments and policy challenges. Plus, unless you attend you likely won’t see the conference. Video is discouraged during the event, though here’s a preview of last year’s conference from Innovations Executive Director Chris Coburn). And it really isn’t a stretch when he says: “The folks that are deciding on the technologies that are going to affect healthcare for the next 10 years are in this room.”
Who’s there? Big-name speakers include General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt (Monday, 6:30 pm); Pfizer CEO Ian Read (Tuesday, 12:15 pm); Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak (Tuesday, 3: 45 pm); and ex-vice president and renowned heart-care patient Dick Cheney (Wednesday, 12:30 p.m.).
There are a stack of media luminaries, too: CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo, The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein and NBC’s Robert Bazell, among others.
Signature moment? The conference wraps up Wednesday afternoon after Clinic wellness guru Dr. Michael Roizen unveils the Clinic’s annual Top 10 Medical Innovations for the next year. If you’re thinking about what would be on that list, look at MedCity News’ nominations for 2012 innovations.
Must-see events? Of course, everyone knows the real reason to attend these conferences is to get a few days’ break from the regular routine, network and explore new business opportunities. But for those attending who relish the panel discussions there are a few highlights, too.
- The controversial Dr. Steven Nissen (Public Enemy No. 1 to Big Pharma for his public assaults on drugs such as Avandia and Vioxx) speaks on a panel about the state of cardiovascular drug development (Tuesday, 9 am)
- Several investors, including representatives from Abbott Ventures and Novartis Venture Funds, opine on whether investing in cardiovascular technology can generate sufficient returns to offset the risk (Tuesday, 1:40 pm)
- Opportunities around healthcare IT investment, “the hottest market in the industry,” is the focus of a panel featuring former Sequoia Capital partner and JobsOhio Chief Investment Officer Mark Kvamme, Trident Capital’s John Reardon, and Pat Fortune of Millenia Partners (Wednesday, 10:30 am)
Follow it live? As mentioned, there is little video of the event, but the summit does have a hashtag: #MIS2011. However, judging from Cleveland Clinic Innovations’ Twitter account, which has sat dormant since July 14, I may be the only one actually using the hashtag at the conference.
