Statement by

Wolfram Diener, Managing Director at Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, 

regarding MEDICA 2019 and COMPAMED 2019 in Düsseldorf 
(18 – 21 November 2019) 

More dynamic, more digital and more networked than ever: the medical industry is taking strides into the future. If you want to be in peak condition for taking on the challenges of tomorrow, you need to keep your finger on the pulse. Companies, opinion leaders, decision makers and experts in various fields including science and research need a common platform to communicate and conduct business across countries. 

For almost 50 years, MEDICA has provided this platform. The trade fair also acts as an indicator for the activity of the global medical market: Exhibitors, visitors and media representatives from all over the world will come together again at the world’s biggest leading medical trade fair, held from 18 to 21 November 2019 in Düsseldorf. International bookings from more than 60 countries account for three-quarters of the 5,000+ exhibitors who are taking part once again. Visitors will travel to Düsseldorf from around 170 countries. 

The outlook is also excellent for the supplier trade fair COMPAMED, which takes place alongside MEDICA. Since it began in 1992, this trade fair has developed into a veritable hotspot for presenting high-tech solutions for medical technology manufacturing and is the international leading event in its field. Once again, Halls 8a and 8b will be at full capacity with at least 800 exhibitors from around 40 countries, among them a thrilling range of go-getting small companies, established mid-sized companies and renowned corporations – just like at MEDICA. 

Trendsetters for pace setters

Any company that sees themselves as a trendsetter for the medical technology industry, an industry that, above all others, is driven by innovation, needs to be creative and constantly reinvent itself – just like MEDICA. We continually develop new programme elements and cooperate closely with strong partners from the professional field of medical technology to turn these new elements into indispensable parts of the event. 

Digitalisation? At MEDICA, it’s already part of our daily life and is far more than just a much-hyped trending topic. As early as the 80s, a special show  presented the first offers for medical practice IT to an audience of rather sceptical doctors. This led to the development of MEDICA MEDIA and, later, to the MEDICA HEALTH IT FORUM as dialogue platforms, using a pioneering mix of stage programmes, expert discussions and an exhibition area.  

Interconnectivity? In Germany, this is only now starting to pick up speed. However, based on global trends, MEDICA has been providing the necessary orientation for years now – with the MEDICA CONNECTED HEALTHCARE FORUM and the integrated MEDICA App COMPETITION as a central pitch for the best global health app solution. 

Pioneering spirit? As important pace setters for the industry, digitally driven young entrepreneurs have a firmly established stage at the MEDICA START-UP PARK, year-in, year-out. Other event organisers have also picked up on this idea. In the spirit of the "sincerest form of flattery ”, they have copied the concept, as well as that of the MEDICA App COMPETITION. Proving that the world’s leading trade fair is on the right path!

Digital health and medical technology come together

At MEDICA 2019, we are once again offering something new: we have re-ordered the structure with regard to the thematic allocation of the halls. The MEDICA segment for information and communication technology will be shifted from Hall 15 to Hall 13 so that it has a direct connection to the halls for medical technology and electromedicine (Halls 9 to 14). 

This is the logical consequence of the development of the market and industry needs. Digitalisation in medicine is forging ahead at great speed and is also bringing about huge changes in both product development and business processes. Today, we are focusing less on healthcare IT as an isolated discipline and are gravitating more towards digital health, specifically as part of an overarching digital transformation. This concerns all product and sales areas, particularly the convergence of software and hardware in medical technology and electromedicine, from app-controlled wearables to units for mobile and stationary imaging to robotic systems for surgery and information systems at patients’ bedsides.    

The communication and information platforms MEDICA CONNECTED HEALTHCARE FORUM and the MEDICA HEALTH IT FORUM will also be located in Hall 13 in the future. These forums both attract a lot of attention and are established audience magnets with sessions and presentations on all of the relevant digital healthcare trends. 

The MEDICA START-UP PARK will also move to Hall 13 as its content fits well here, along with the big joint stand for the wearables technology show and the joint stand for the ENTSCHEIDERFABRIK. Best practice projects for digitalisation of clinics are showcased here.  

Halls 15 to 17 are dedicated to national and international joint ventures, with the main focus being on medical technology and electromedicine.  

The MEDICA ECON FORUM, organised in cooperation with the Techniker Krankenkasse (a German health insurance company) remains a firm fixture in the programme as a platform for healthcare policy dialogue, as does the MEDICA TECH FORUM which deals with market-relevant themes on high-tech trends, created in close cooperation with industry associations SPECTARIS and ZVEI.

Medical laboratory exhibitors make the most of the new Hall 1 

Other changes have also come about as a result of the upcoming final touches to the new Hall 1, which will be ready right on time for MEDICA 2019. The MEDICA exhibitor space for laboratory technology and diagnostics will move into Hall 1 (which has 12,500 square metres of space). This sector will use this space and will also have the run of their old grounds in Hall 3, located just next door. The temporary lightweight halls 3a and 18, used during the construction phase from 2017 to 2018, are no longer needed. The MEDICA LABMED FORUM, with its speeches and discussions on trending topics in laboratory medicine (previously in Hall 18), will also now be found in Hall 1. 

For the first time ever, we will be cooperating with the renowned international ‘DxPx Conference’, which marks an interesting new event especially for the cream of the crop in the laboratory field. This will be held at the Maritim Hotel in Düsseldorf on the first day of MEDICA (18 November). Here, entrepreneurs, industry representatives and investors with a focus on diagnostics can come together. All conference participants will receive a ticket for MEDICA in order to continue their business discussions in the trade fair halls and obtain information on current exhibitor innovations on the following days. 

Everything you need to know, straight to the point.

The ability to surprise exhibitors and visitors with innovations whilst simultaneously offering an unrivalled level of internationality are just some of MEDICA’s central success factors. Another is its range of topics. These cover the complete workflow of inpatient and outpatient care and treatment in a clearly structured and to the point manner. The focal points are: Electromedicine and medical technology, digital health (incl. mHealth, eHealth, clinical and practice IT), laboratory technology and diagnostics, physiotherapy and orthopaedic technology, medical products as well as medical furniture.

This offer, combined with the parallel COMPAMED event, ensures that this November, the entire value chain for technical medical devices, instruments and products will take centre stage at a set place and a set time once more. This provides ideal requirements for medical technology manufacturers, their customers and users  and their suppliers to forge partnerships and lead joint projects to success. 

Tried and tested and still part of the programme

In addition to the trade fair, the conference programme is also one of the main pillars of MEDICA. The MEDICA MEDICINE + SPORTS CONFERENCE (20 + 21 November 2019) on aspects of prevention and sports medicine treatment concepts as well as DiMiMed, the conference for disaster and military medicine (18 + 19 November 2019) are the highlights here. These are English-speaking conferences. They address an international audience and both take place at the Congress Center Düsseldorf (CCD South).

The 42nd German Hospital Conference (18 – 21 November 2019), the leading communication platform for top decision makers from hospitals, primarily seeks to address a German-speaking specialist audience, as does the MEDICA PHYSIO CONFERENCE. With its treatment-oriented presentations, it addresses a professional audience of physiotherapists, sports medicine specialists and orthopaedists (20 + 21 November 2019 / Congress Center Düsseldorf Süd).

The above-mentioned items and examples show: MEDICA 2019 and COMPAMED 2019 have a lot of highlights on offer once again. A trip to Düsseldorf is a must for those who wish to stay up to date!

Information is available online at: http://www.medica-tradefair.com / http://www.compamed-tradefair.com. 

Düsseldorf in June 2019