BD’s Ludwig Begins Term as AdvaMed Chairman

BD’s Ludwig: At AdvaMed’s helm.

Edward J. Ludwig, president and CEO of Becton, Dickinson, and Co. ( Franklin Lakes, NJ), has taken the reins as chair of the AdvaMed board of directors. Ludwig’s induction took place earlier this month at the annual meeting of the industry association. He succeeds Arthur D. Collins Jr., chairman and CEO of Medtronic Inc. (Minneapolis), whose tenure was marked by unprecedented growth in the association’s membership.

Voted chairman-elect last year, Ludwig has chaired AdvaMed’s technology and regulation committee since 2004. The association reports that he was instrumental in guiding AdvaMed’s policy positions during negotiations with Congress and FDA that led to the 2005 passage of the Medical Device User Fee Stabilization Act.

“My goals (as AdvaMed chairman) include improving our partnerships around the world; improving public understanding of our industry’s value to individual health and to the healthcare system; continuing to drive commitment to ethics, candor, and transparency; and ensuring international competitiveness,” Ludwig says. “We’ll consider broadly expanding our existing partnerships to work more closely with healthcare economists, academics, advocacy groups, health insurance associations, and trade associations such as BIO, PhRMA, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and more.”

According to Ludwig, AdvaMed and the medical device industry at large face several unique challenges in the coming years. “The first is the tendency for some to focus on unit cost versus value delivered,” he says. “While there may be high upfront costs for our products, there is long-term value in lives saved and improved, and in systemic cost reductions. Our challenge is to change the focus of that debate from cost to value—value to patients, healthcare systems, and societies—by demonstrating clinical, quality-of-life, and economic contributions.”

Ludwig says AdvaMed plans to address this challenge by aggressively pursuing its “Value of Technology” initiative, a communication campaign designed to educate and inform policymakers about how medical technology saves lives and money through more-accurate diagnoses, less-invasive procedures, and improved treatment options. The association’s communications will also be expanded to target the general public.

“A globally connected world presents additional challenges,” Ludwig says. “To address this challenge, AdvaMed must work with its sister associations and governments worldwide to advance good healthcare policies. We should also further our coordination with diagnostic and device organizations in regions where we are already engaged, such as Europe and Japan, and build strong relationships with government organizations and industry groups in countries that offer new opportunities, such as China.”

Also at the annual meeting, Boston Scientific COO Paul LaViolette was named chair of AdvaMed’s technology and regulation committee, Edwards Lifesciences chairman and CEO Michael A. Mussallem began his term as chair of the payment and healthcare delivery committee, and Stryker president and CEO Stephen P. MacMillan took over chairmanship of the international committee. Newly elected AdvaMed board members for 2006 are as follows.

• Martin J. Emerson, CEO, American Medical Systems.

• Christopher M. Gleeson, president and CEO, Ventana Medical Systems Inc.

• J. Michael McQuade, vice president, 3M Medical Division, 3M Health Care.

• Cary R. Rayment, president and CEO, Alcon Laboratories Inc.

• Michael J. Thomas, president and CEO, Sleep Solutions Inc.

© 2006 Canon Communications LLC

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