Kevin Ashover
UK General Manager, Masimo
Q: What does your role as UK General Manager of Masimo involve?
A: My role with Masimo has been one of the most exciting and challenging of my career. It’s very rare that an opportunity to work for such an innovative and rapidly growing company comes along. Since I joined Masimo in January 2006, the UK business has grown by over 400%. My role is to lead our ever growing team of clinical specialists, account managers and support staff that have driven this rapid growth. Although I am responsible for the day to day running of the UK organization, I am fortunately still able to spend time visiting hospitals to see how our ground-breaking new technologies are improving patient care.
Q: What attracted you to work for Masimo?
A: Having worked within the devices side of the healthcare industry for some time, I was very much aware that Masimo manufactured the gold standard in Pulse Oximetry. However, it was the new Rainbow SET technology which excited me the most. Rainbow SET is the only technology on the market that can non-invasively and continuously monitor SpHb, SpOC, SpMet and SpCO. Previously the only way to measure these parameters was by drawing blood and waiting for the results to come back. I could instantly see both the clinical and financial benefits that this revolutionary technology could offer to a hospital. So I jumped at the opportunity to set up the team that would introduce it to the market place.
Q: What new (anaesthesia related) products do you have ready to launch?
A: Masimo recently previewed Non-Invasive and continuous Total Haemoglobin at the World Congress of Anaesthesia in Cape Town. The response was phenomenal, generating a huge interest as a result of this breakthrough new technology. We anticipate that this product should help Anaesthetists in theatre with blood transfusion management as well as many other departments across the hospital. Additionally we have also just launched PVI (Pleth Variability Index). This is used to help manage a patient’s fluid status. PVI looks at changes in peripheral perfusion during breathing. When a clinician sees this variation increase it may mean one of two things, low blood volume in the intra vascular space or increased pressure in the chest. Both of these can decrease preload.
Q: What changes do you see occurring in the anaesthetics and healthcare industry over the next few years?
A: Hospital Acquired Infections are increasingly becoming a problem in our hospitals. As a result we are seeing more and more hospitals move away from reusable to disposable sensors. This inevitably will lead to long term cost savings as a result of less expense from dealing with an MRSA or other infection outbreak. Additionally we are seeing more demand for products which will not only improve patient safety but also save money!
Q: What is your focus and what do you offer the anaesthetics industry?
A: The focus of Masimo and that of my team is to continue to introduce the clinical benefits that Masimo can offer to all areas of the healthcare industry. On a personal level, the anaesthesia industry is relatively new to me, so I still have a lot to learn. The best way I feel to do that is to spend time in operating theatres and listening to the feedback from the actual users, in order to see how we can improve and help even further.
Q: And finally, what does the future hold for Masimo?
A: Very exciting times I hope! Masimo is continuing to invest heavily into research and development, as a result we will soon be introducing many more innovative and non invasive devices and technologies.
Masimo develops innovative monitoring technologies that significantly improve patient care. In 1995, the company debuted Measure-Through-Motion-and-Low-Perfusion pulse oximetry, known as Masimo SET. This virtually eliminated false alarms and increased pulse oximetry’s ability to detect life-threatening events. More than 100 independent and objective studies demonstrate Masimo SET provides the most reliable SpO2 and pulse rate measurements even under the most challenging clinical conditions, including patient motion and low peripheral perfusion.
In 2005, Masimo introduced Masimo Rainbow SET, a breakthrough noninvasive blood constituent monitoring platform that can measure many blood constituents that previously required invasive procedures. Rainbow SET continuously and noninvasively measures Total Haemoglobin (SpHb™), Oxygen Content (SpOC™), Carboxyhaemoglobin (SpCO®), Methaemoglobin (SpMet®), and PVI™, in addition to oxyhaemoglobin (SpO2), pulse rate (PR), and perfusion index (PI), allowing early detection and treatment of potentially life-threatening conditions. Founded in 1989, Masimo has the mission of “Improving Patient Outcomes and Reducing Cost of Care by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications.”
For more information, please contact Masimo on:
Tel: +44 (0)1256 479988
Fax: +44 (0)1256 473684
Email: uksales@masimo.com Or visit us at our website www.masimo.co.uk
