On April 10, on the eve of the 89th China International Medical Equipment (Spring) Expo, Omron, which has been exhibiting for many years, made a stunning appearance with a variety of innovative products in the field of circulatory systems. Are there any special highlights of the exhibition compared with previous years?How do multinational medical device companies cope with cyclical fluctuations in the market?People's Daily Health Client talks to Zhao Yao, Director and General Manager of Omron Health Care (China) Co., Ltd.
Zhao Yao, Director and General Manager of Omron Healthcare (China) Co., Ltd., delivered a speech at the Health Industry Integration and Development Forum. Photo courtesy of the organizer
People's Daily Health Client: The 2024 Wuzhen Health Conference and the 3rd China OTC Conference are coming to an end, and the opening of the China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF) is imminent.
Zhao Yao: This year, Omron Healthcare will be launched with the theme of digital "intelligence" and "heart" era, aiming to further extend the applicable scenarios and monitoring scope of blood pressure testing to risk prediction in the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular fields driven by digital technology. At the recent exhibition, we brought three blockbuster products: ECG sphygmomanometer (an electronic sphygmomanometer that can measure electrocardiograms at the same time), a wireless ECG recorder and a blood pressure monitor with atrial fibrillation risk warning.
All three products have strong breakthrough innovations in terms of functionality. Taking the ECG sphygmomanometer as an example, this is the first ECG integrated sphygmomanometer with the function of measuring EKG electrocardiogram, bringing ECG monitoring methods that can only be carried out in hospitals into the home and helping to detect recurrence of atrial fibrillation earlier. Through the Internet and apps, patients and doctors can stay in close contact with their doctors based on user-uploaded data reports, helping doctors complete diagnoses, manage conditions, and improve treatment plans more efficiently and accurately.
People's Daily Health Client: Now that many companies have begun to "segment the market and intensively cultivate demand" for China's health care, and have successively had in-depth changes and corporate transformation strategies, will Omron have any new measures in the future in China?
Zhao Yao: In recent years, Omron has been committed to transforming from a "medical device provider" to a "chronic disease management service provider". For example, in the field of metabolic diseases, Omron will continue to optimize the functions of blood glucose meters and extend them to continuous blood glucose monitoring to protect patients' blood sugar health at all times.
At the same time, in order to continue to expand second- and third-tier cities and young consumer groups, Omron has also effectively achieved crowd breakthrough through diversified marketing methods such as cross-border cooperation and sports event sponsorship. Omron pays close attention to the health management of consumers in third- and fourth-tier cities, and expands high-quality medical resources to the sinking market through activities such as public welfare patient education and education equity. At the same time, with MMC health convenience stores, health stations, and strategic cooperation in local counties as the fulcrum, Omron continues to bring convenient and accessible chronic disease testing services to third- and fourth-tier cities to help improve the comprehensive benefits of patients.
Omron Healthcare (Booth No. V01) brought innovative products and chronic disease solutions to the Wuzhen Health Conference for three consecutive years.
People's Daily Health Client: Since 2016, Omron has actively deployed the Standardized Metabolic Disease Management Center (MMC) project in public hospitals across the country. What is the scale of development so far?
Zhao Yao: MMC was born in 2016, and at present, nearly 1,900 hospitals have signed up to join, covering 32 provinces, municipalities and regions, more than 80% of prefecture-level cities, the penetration rate of tertiary hospitals is 24%+, HIS is connected to 750 public hospitals, nearly 2 million precision diabetes patients are managed, nearly 1,400 MMC patients are admitted, and 60,000 new patients are managed every month.
Since 2019, Omron has extended the project from inside the hospital to outside the hospital, and has built the MMC health convenience store project in a timely manner. Up to now, MMC health convenience stores have covered 28 provinces, successfully signed contracts with 94 chain pharmacies across the country, and 82 stores have officially opened, benefiting nearly 300,000 people, and plans to expand the number of stores to 1,000 by 2027.
People's Daily Health Client: As a deep cultivator of the medical device industry, what are the important time nodes and changes in China's medical device market, and what is the future development trend?
Zhao Yao: In the past 10 years, China's medical device market has undergone rapid development and transformation. In 2015, the Internet + medical care broke through the "wall" of medical resources, in 2018, there were breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology, medical robots, large-scale medical equipment, emergency rescue medical equipment, bio-3D printing technology and wearable devices, etc., and in 2020, investment and financing in the fields of biopharmaceuticals and innovative devices were in full swing, innovative products and innovative technologies emerged one after another, and the internationalization of China's medical innovation enterprises was getting higher and higher.
In the future, China's medical market will continue to maintain rapid growth, developing in the direction of intelligence, personalization and remoteness, so as to meet people's growing health needs and promote the sustainable development of the healthcare industry. We will also be closely monitoring market developments.
Omron Healthcare (Booth No. V01) brought innovative products and chronic disease solutions to the Wuzhen Health Conference for three consecutive years, and a number of new products were unveiled.
People's Daily Health Client: Since the beginning of this year, there have been voices saying that the economic market is sluggish, and many pharmaceutical companies and device companies have said that it is "very difficult".
Zhao Yao: The market environment cannot always be peaceful, and there will definitely be cyclical fluctuations. As a business, what we want to do: adapt. The most important thing is innovation, to discover new markets, to find those undiscovered needs, so as to find their own blue ocean of development. No matter when, the market demand must exist, and the key is whether you can grasp the new market demand. By grasping this demand, the company will definitely be able to develop well. Otherwise, the company will start to go downhill.
Today, China has become Omron's largest market in the world, accounting for 35% of Omron's global sales, which has surpassed Japan, Europe and the United States. Many people say that this is already a "bottleneck", but I think there is still a lot of room and more possibilities in the market, and the key is whether we can find this undiscovered demand. This requires us to do a good job in localization innovation, not only to grasp the development of modernization, but also to understand the trend of localization. I still firmly believe that there are infinite possibilities in China, and as long as we pay enough patience and time, we will definitely be able to achieve different results.