The medical division develops, produces, and markets system solutions, devices and service for the acute point of care (APOC) process chain. These include emergency care, perioperative care (in connection with the operation), critical care and perinatal care (in connection with childbirth). The product portfolio enables the highest quality of treatment in ventilation and anesthesia as well as ongoing surveillance of patients’ vital signs using Dräger monitors. Equipment and systems (e.g. gas management systems) and an extensive range of accessories round off the product portfolio.

Of the 6,305 people employed by the division worldwide (December 31, 2009), 54 percent work in sales, marketing and service, 26 percent in production, quality assurance, logistics and procurement, 11 percent in research and development, and 9 percent in administration.

The medical division has development centers and production plants in Germany (Lübeck), the US (Andover and Telford), and China (Shanghai). The companies with the highest local net sales are in Germany, the US, France, Italy, Spain, China, the UK and Japan.

The division is represented in around 190 countries on all continents and has sales and service subsidiaries in over 40 countries.

The global economic crisis has had a major impact on market developments in 2009, particularly in the first half of the year. Even though the economic stimulus packages of individual countries and investments in the treatment of H1N1 patients partly compensated losses, the total market volume was stagnant and even decreased slightly, accompanied by a drop in the US share of the global market.

Hospitals are under high pressure to save costs and increasingly dependent on technology to maximize their productivity. Together with the quickly developing health care systems in emerging countries, this continued to have a considerable impact on demand, despite the crisis.

The product portfolio continued to expand across the process chain on both the provider and consumer side in 2009, albeit at a slower pace. As a result, competition remained very intense. In 2009, the market volume of segments relevant to the medical division amounted to almost EUR 7 billion, a slight decrease compared to the prior year as a result of the crisis. Dräger is among the global market leaders in this field because it implements consistent concepts covering the entire patient pathway in the APOC area in hospitals, and by doing so, helps lowering health sector costs. According to own estimates the medical division leads the market in anesthesiology and respiratory care.

The number of elderly people is constantly growing in all Western industrial countries, leading to rising demand in medical technology products. However, governments are trying to limit and lower public health care costs. The US, up to now the largest market for medical technology, is being dominated by the planned health system reform. As the main goal of this reform is saving costs and increasing efficiency, it stands to reason that US health facilities are going to change their customer behavior in the long-term. In the short term, demand from public authorities, which often fund hospitals, will be restricted by tight municipal budgets. The German professional association SPECTARIS believes that growth is going to continue in the emerging countries in Asia and the Middle East. As average income increases, people are expecting higher standards from their health care systems. Many investments that were delayed in 2009 due to the crisis are going to be carried out in 2010. Deutsche Bank Research anticipates growth to continue slowly in Germany, as innovative medical technology is seen more and more as a chance to lower total costs. It is going to take a long time to reduce the existing investment backlog. In Eastern Europe, the medical infrastructure is continuing to develop and expand, partly supported by economic stimulus packages such as the EU Health Programme 2008–2013. In Germany, EUR 3.5 billion from the government’s second economic stimulus package has been made available for developing and modernizing the hospital infrastructure. Dräger expects that the market will grow steadily in the medium term despite the effects of the economic crisis. As a rule, demand for products that improve workflows and efficiency in hospitals is going to continue rising.