Medical Device Daily National Editor

NEW YORK – The Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference is one of those basic to-dos for the medical device and drug sectors, a yearly bellwether event providing a peek at the always-uncertain future.

But this year's conference, the 20th – moved from its traditional site at the venerable but under-renovation Pierre Hotel to the New York Palace hotel – would seem to be even more bellwether than usual.

Opening this morning, the two-day conference is especially of interest coming as it does shortly before the inauguration of a new U.S. president, with promises by the president-elect for reform in the U.S. healthcare system, in the form of what has been touted as "believable" change.

Not to mention taken in the context of a Democratic majority promising to back President Barack Obama and Obama backed by an election sweep of enough proportion to appear to provide strong public support for that change (though most might not quite understand what that may mean, in actuality).

Whatever the case, the next two to four years appear to offer a tipping point for healthcare: either significant change achieved, or again floundering in partisan debate. And, of course, the conference comes amidst the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression.

While healthcare hasn't experienced the calamitous hits being taken by U.S. financial markets and automakers, does it exist on an island in the storm or also find itself susceptible to a long-time economic downturn?

Will it be able to respond with its traditionally aggressive, entrepreneurial model? Or will it fall back to defensive mode?

Putting this in a seriously understated nutshell, Steve Buell, head of investment research at Piper Jaffray, said that this year's conference "is highly relevant and timely as the financial community questions how the economy will impact the future growth prospects of healthcare companies."

Organizers also promise that the conference will be taking a look at China, a growingly aggressive but blurry global presence. How and where will that emerging power fit into "flat-world" healthcare strategies?

The conference will host more than 160 public med-tech, biotech, pharma and healthcare services companies. It will feature sessions with nearly 100 late-stage companies, each one, according to form, putting its best foot forward.

As usual, Q&As following company presentations, private one-on-one meetings with company executives and, perhaps best of all, hallways interactions, will suggest whether these companies are on either solid footing ... or reimbursement quicksand.

And since so many things are going interactive these days, the conference will follow suit.

A new conference feature is what organizers are calling an "unplugged fireside chat" format with company management teams "in an informal discussion moderated by a Piper Jaffray host. Audience participation and questions are strongly encouraged, as these 30-minute sessions are designed to be more interactive than the separate presentation and breakout session at prior conferences."

Broader sector issues – regulatory, reimbursement and legal — will be addressed throughout the conference by industry experts, physicians and academicians in panel discussions throughout the conference, as well as key disease areas drawing the interest of investors.