The Argentine fair, which took place between the 26th and 28th of September at Costa Salguero, demonstrated its status as one of the most important meeting venues in the country for making contacts with healthcare professionals from across the world.
With 15,572 professional visitors and 222 exhibiting companies, ExpoMedical 2012 showed that it is one of the most important meeting venues in Argentina in the healthcare sector for the exchange of ideas and building commercial and training relationships. This is certainly what the exposition’s director, Maximiliano Labora believes: “This was the 10th edition and in terms of visitor numbers, the number of exhibiting companies and surface area occupied, the fair improved upon its statistics from the previous edition,” he said. With regard to foreign visitors, Labora says that in spite of the restrictions on imports, there were pavilions from Germany, Belgium, China and Malaysia in addition to individual stands from companies from the United States, Taiwan, and the Czech Republic, amongst others. But Argentinian companies were not left behind and created considerable numbers of important contacts with potential customers. For all those who couldn’t make it or want to go back to the exposition next year, the date and place of the next edition have been confirmed: it will be held from the 25th to the 27th of September 2013, at the Costa Salguero Complex once more.
Ehealth Reporter Latin America patrolled the hallways of the fair for all three days this year, seeking out and speaking to companies focused on the development of medical IT products to find out what they had to offer.
ALGORITMO: This company, from Rosario, Argentina, was founded 27 years ago and came to the exposition to present its healthcare software named SoftSalud. The newly updated product is eight years old and its main function is to manage the administrative part of a hospital. It provides auditing records for all operations carried out, providing information on the user, date and time and equipment and can export reports in multiple formats (Excel, Word, HTML, PDF), among other functions.
HL7: At the stand run by HL7 Argentina, an affiliate of the American HL7 organization which is dedicated to developing interoperability standards for healthcare information technology systems, we found Humberto Mandirola Brieux, who offered a seminar on “The importance of networks, interoperability and standards for modern clinical management” on the first day of the exposition. But the doctor was not alone at the stand in Pavilion 03: A clarinet and violin duo made up of his daughter Camila Mandirola and a friend, Agustina Guerrero, provided a musical accompaniment, attracting the attention of visitors passing through the sector. To Mandirola, ExpoMedical is an excellent place to promote and spread the word about the use of the organization’s interoperability standard to potential customers whose base has grown since the service returned to being free and freely available at the start of September.
HOSPITAL PRIVADO: Alejandro Nigro, manager of the Computer Center at the Hospital Privado SA in Córdoba told us about his role at the event: “We want to sell our electronic health record software, a comprehensive IT tool for healthcare institutions which we have implemented since 2005/2006.” Furthermore, with the help of a doctor in his province, he gave talks at the stand to explain in detail what their product offers and the results experienced up until then at the Hospital Privado de Córdoba.
INFORMATICA SA: Next to the exhibitors center we found Informática S.A. Pablo Herce, from the sales department, told us that the company is dedicated to creating healthcare administration systems whose purpose is to provide specific solutions for each of its clients – who can be found in Buenos Aires and also in other provinces such as San Luis and Río Grande. The company also offers training and ongoing support.
PHILIPS: Agimed is a company that distributes high-tech healthcare products, specializing in the niche market since 1999. Philips is one of the many brands its represents, selling its medical products such as monitoring, cardiology, revival and sonogram equipment. With regard to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in healthcare, Agimed states that all of its equipment can be connected to an Electronic Health Record, for example, or function with PACS.
SELIS SA: The national company Selis is dedicated to creating technological solutions for healthcare centers and has been in the market for 15 years. At the exposition it presented and sold its identification bracelets for patients, which can be personalized with barcode printers and also used to identify newborns and their mothers. The representative at their stand noted that this edition of ExpoMedical had been its most successful so far.
SIDESYS IT SOLUTIONS: María José Prado, Project Head of the company, explained that SIDSYS is focused on the design, development and implementation of innovative IT solutions for its customers. She also noted that the company offers a system called e-flow which helps to manage the flow of patients within medical centers. SIDESYS is an international company with central offices in Mexico and Argentina with strategic alliances across the world, and is currently seeking to expand further.
