Refurbished Miami Beach Convention Center in Florida to welcome back FIME Exhibition & Congress for its 29th edition next year
By Arab Health Magazine Staff

Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions, the world’s leading publishing and exhibitions company, has announced that the FIME Exhibition & Congress will be making a return to its original host location – the Miami Beach Convention Centre in Florida - in 2019. The show, which is the largest health expo in Americas, will be relocating back to its permanent home in Miami as the venue is expected to complete a $620-million state-of-the-art renovation project by the end of 2018.

Due to the ongoing refurbishment project, FIME Show was temporarily held at the Orange County Convention Centre in Orlando in Florida in 2016, 2017, and for the final time from July 17-19, 2018. Attracting more than 1,200 medical device manufactures from 42 countries, FIME 2018 welcomed more than 24,200 healthcare trade professionals looking to source products and medical services from across the continent.

According to Gil Alejo, Exhibition Manager, FIME: “Under Informa’s stewardship and strategic direction, FIME has continued to witness a 25% year-on-year growth in visitor numbers, and, with exhibitors already looking to secure their booths for the 2019 edition, our move back to Miami is vital in order to accommodate the increasing scope of the show. It was always the intention to bring FIME back to Miami in 2019 and we look forward to fully utilising the 500,000 sq ft of exhibition space at the Miami Beach Convention Centre to the benefit of our strategic partners, exhibitors and visitors.”

As the “gateway to the Americas”, Miami continues to serve the world’s healthcare business community due to its strategic geographic location and its fast airway connections to Latin America. The city also benefits from a rich social makeup with more than 70% of its inhabitants from multicultural backgrounds. The network of professional contacts that Miami facilitates is geared towards a fruitful business relationship between the Americas. As the 18th largest economy in the world, and with an extensive transpiration system and flourishing trade ecosystem, Florida is the ideal place to reach customers and suppliers anywhere, fast.
For FIME 2019, the primary focus of the show will remain across four industry sectors: medical technology, medical products & supplies, medical services, and medical equipment. Informa also remains committed to expanding the clinical education offering proving industry workshops, conferences and seminars to attending healthcare trade professionals from across the continent.
Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions, in charge of the healthcare portfolio within Informa's Global Exhibitions division, organises 26 exhibitions yearly covering the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and US market, connecting more than 150,000 healthcare professionals worldwide and offering a range of marketing solutions for companies involved with the healthcare sector. Over 100 congresses take place in parallel with the exhibitions.

Affordable Healthcare Solutions Showcased at FIME 2018
The 28th edition of the FIME Exhibition & Congress, held from July 17 – 19, 2018, at the Orange County Convention Centre in Orlando, Florida, U.S., welcomed more than 1,200 medical device manufactures from 42 countries showcasing new and refurbished medical and hospital equipment, technology, products and supplies. The show also attracted more than 24,000 healthcare trade professionals looking to source products and medical services from across Latin and North America.

According to estimates by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), U.S. healthcare spend is projected to reach nearly US$5.5 trillion by 2025, and the Latin American medical device industry is expected to reach US$ 18.4 billion by 2020. This market growth is expected to attract a huge amount of interest from overseas medical device manufacturers, suppliers, service providers looking to capitalise on the expanding market.

Gil Alejo, Exhibition Manager, FIME, says: “FIME continues to be one of the most important events to do business in the healthcare market in Latin and North America. It is truly the optimal platform to source cutting-edge medical equipment and technology on a global level, ensuring that attendees have access to the largest range of affordable new and refurbished medical devices, products and supplies, at the best possible prices.”

Featuring 16 dedicated country pavilions as well as the popular Dealers & Distributors Wall offering dealers/distributors and agents the opportunity to post their business requirements live for exhibitors to review and connect directly to do business, FIME 2018 featured an array of national and international companies looking to promote their affordable healthcare solutions.

Exhibiting for the 6th year at FIME was Florida-based Vertisa Medical Waste Technology who promoted and showcased their medical waste technology compact systems for clinics and hospitals - in particular, models AXL 150/100/150 L that are cooled with air generating 20-40-80 kl/per hour systems.​

Axel Lopez, Business and Marketing Director, Vertisa, said: “We look to FIME each year to establish new distributorships and clients and to catch up with our clients and existing distributors.​ The show is very productive for our company as it generates great traffic and new business.”

Medical solutions provider Strena Medical was also at FIME to announce the acquisition of a set of companies, including Medimar Corp., that support a stronger strategic initiative into the health technologies market. According to Strena Medical CEO Mario Labella: “FIME is one of the most important tradeshows in the U.S. for medical equipment and we attend every year to be able to reach our target market and customers that are looking for the solutions we offer. That's why we decided to announce the acquisition at this special event.”

Los Angeles-Based Carley Lamps showcased their Carley Manufacture Line of products compatible with Riester, Hiene, Welch Allyn, Neitz, Rusch, as well as hard to find obsoleted examination lamps and batteries at FIME this year. Carley has also added a new to portable handheld LED light source ROVER IV to their endoscopic illumination line.

Educational Agenda at FIME Show 2018
Visitors to FIME 2018 were also able to attend a series of insightful accredited conferences that focused on infection control, digital healthcare and healthcare supply chain and procurement, whilst the trade seminar discussed investment opportunities in North America, and provided market insights, trade prospects and regulatory affairs for market entry to the US, Latin America, China, Asia, APAC and Europe.

According to Gil Alejo, Exhibition Manager, FIME: “Informa’s motto of ‘Exhibition with Education” has been well received at the FIME show in previous years and this year too, thousands of delegates attended the multi-specialty three-day conference and seminar programme. We welcomed some of the most respected and knowledgeable experts from various medical specialities who shared their insights on the challenges and opportunities the future of the industry.”

One of the key themes discussed at this year’s meeting was patient safety and quality control; in particular, the fresh perspectives on healthcare imperatives relating to infection prevention, infectious diseases, public health and healthcare epidemiology. Chairing the Patient Safety & Quality Congress for 2018 was Kelly Pyrek, Editor in Chief of Infection Control Today Magazine from Phoenix, Arizona, alongside activity director Anthony Warmuth, who is the Enterprise Quality Administrator at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.

“Cyber security was another major conversation focus at FIME 2018,” said Alejo. “Delegates at the Digital Healthcare Conference were offered practical advice on assessing how disruptive technologies and innovations can impact the healthcare ecosystem, and discussions were held on how connected health technologies can support delivery of new models of care, as well as the implementation of practical strategies to protect patient data and facilities from growing cyber security threats, among other topics.”

Meanwhile, key topics at the Healthcare Supply Chain and Procurement Conference held under the theme ‘New frontiers in supply chain management’, included clinically integrated networks: challenges and opportunities, value chain transformation and patient engagement, investment protection, device tracking, contract compliance and quality control, as well as supply chain importance to patient care.

The free-to-attend Medical Devices International Trade Seminar took the approach of exploring opportunities in an evolving market. Delegates got the chance to understand the trends in the US health devices market, capture new markets by understanding the global opportunities available and review trade regulations in emerging markets, among other new trends.

This year, FIME was co-located with MEDLAB Americas, a dedicated area for medical laboratories, which brought together leaders in the IVD, diagnostics and laboratory management industry to exchange ideas and discover the latest testing techniques and solutions available to the market.