Person to Watch Joe Kiani
We selected Kiani—co-founder and longtime chief executive of Irvine-based patient monitoring device manufacturer Masimo Corp.—as the person to watch in 2016 based primarily on his ongoing effort to eliminate preventable patient deaths in U.S. hospitals by 2020.
Kiani’s Patient Safety Movement calls for collaborative effort from hospitals, device makers and others to share data to stop preventable medical errors. The foundation has been busy growing members—it added Medtronic Plc., a diversified medical device maker with U.S. operations based in Minnesota and its corporate headquarters in Ireland, in November.
Medtronic also pledged $5 million over a five-year period, and its chief executive, Omar Ishrak, will join the foundation’s board of directors.
“We made a lot of progress, and we have a lot to be proud of… we have created a new data system for progressive algorithms… to take data from all devices and look at trends, vital signs, blood… and how they play with each other,” said Kiani.
The foundation said that more than 1,600 healthcare organizations have made a public pledge to share data. The addition of Medtronic brings the number of medical technology companies to 63, up about 43% compared to last year.
Kiani will host the movement’s annual summit in February at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa in Dana Point. Past summits have featured the likes of former President Bill Clinton, along with rosters of industry A-listers.
Masimo had a recent market value of $3.2 billion, up about 50% this year.
Company to Watch Alphaeon Corp.
The Irvine-based “lifestyle medicine” purveyor—which works with board-certified physicians to provide cash-pay products and services including plastic surgery, ophthalmology and dermatology—began the year with a perception that it was ripe for a public offering.
It had acquired Orlando, Fla.-based Lensar Inc., which makes laser devices used in cataract surgeries, and medical equipment distributor Rocol SA in Barranquilla, Colombia. New to its board of directors was former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and James Xiaodong Liu, chief executive of Hong Kong-based Sailing Capital Management.
Not much else went according to expectations for the subsidiary of Newport Beach-based lifestyle healthcare-focused investment firm Strathspey Crown Holdings LLC.
Co-founder Robert Grant gave up day-to-day leadership as chief executive and president, titles that went to Murthy Simhambhatla in August, when his predecessor took the post of vice chairman.
Simhambhatla previously served as senior partner of Strathspey Crown, and prior to that was senior vice president at Abbott Laboratories and president of Abbott Medical Optics.
— Sherry Hsieh
