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Longer Living Populations Drive Healtcare Innvation

Mario Amadio - GE Healthcare
President and Director General

STORY INLINE POST

Wed, 09/07/2016 - 10:46

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Q: What is the history of GE Healthcare in Mexico?

A: This year, GE will be celebrating 120 years in Mexico, an important step in both GE’s and Mexico’s history. GE Healthcare Mexico has always had the best international standards and today we are present across the country and in all of the same business lines as GE Global. Looking to the future, we would like to speak less and less about boxes and products and more about solutions. Mexico is extremely important for GE Healthcare Global for various reasons. Because of its geographical closeness to the US, Canada, and Latin America, we are allowing to create many opportunities. Mexico is also Latin America’s second biggest market after Brazil, and its approximately 128 million inhabitants provide a significant internal consumer market. I also see many opportunities in the digital area now that GE has defined itself as the lead company in the digital industry. Bringing this to our Healthcare division is a real challenge but we also consider it a responsibility and opportunity.

Q: What growth has Mexico experienced in its internal consumer market and solution exports over the past years?

A: The healthcare industry developed as a consequence of an aging population. The challenge that healthcare systems across the world are experiencing is that people are now living longer than ever before and this trend is only starting. Not only are these people living longer, but they also demand a better quality of life, which puts even more pressure on healthcare systems, placing this challenge as one of the top priorities. I do not predict exponential growth for the industry but rather a rationalization of expenses. Investments in the health industry will go toward better health and better care, and expenses will be scrupulously analyzed to make sure they contribute to this improvement. GE wants to support and be part of this response. From there, topics such as accessibility, cost and quality come up and these have been the three pillars of our strategy for a few years now. When it comes to growth in the Mexican healthcare industry, this is happening slowly. I do see a huge opportunity particularly in the digital industry. It is estimated that over the past few years, the most relevant industry has been online consumption, expected to duplicate business turnovers.

Q: Has GE’s “Amplia el Acceso” program been implemented in Mexico and what have been the results if so?

A: In 2000, 70 percent of GE’s market was the US domestic market while the rest was the international market. In the past few years, this figure has changed and the market outside the US has become a great market with several opportunities for growth. Not counting Europe, this leaves us with the emerging markets, where we’ve found considerable opportunities so we have put great effort into creating products tailored to that region. We have lowered the cost to make them more affordable without compromising on quality. There is no hard figure as to the impact of our “Amplia el Acceso” program but I can say it has had a tremendous impact. Mexico has strongly benefited from our strategy to tackle areas of opportunity and to increase coverage. The latter has allowed us to reach all areas of the country.

Q: What are the biggest advantages of GE’s medical imaging equipment compared to your competitors?

A: Our strength in that area and in the entire company is innovation. It is part of our three main characteristics along with service and solutions. Our challenge is to innovate in a wide portfolio and also differentiate ourselves through quality. 

Q: What does your Health Imagination initiative involve?

A: The three pillars of this initiative that began seven years ago are accessibility, cost and quality. GE put this concept forward to be audited by external companies to ensure that all investment fell under one of these three mentioned categories. The success of this initiative is linked to a redefinition of our market strategy. Our next projects will be centered around the digital realm, which we believe this to be the next area of opportunity. We have our research center in Queretaro, which is important for the development of our digital strategy. We focus on offering better products with better technology, availability and clinical value.

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