Hallett Mathews, M.D., MBA, has left Medtronic Spine and Biologics to join the Viscogliosi Brothers as President of VB Professional Services.
Mathews Joins Viscogliosi Brothers
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Mathews started with Medtronic in 2007 as VP of Medical Affairs and added VP of Clinical to that role in 2009. In 2009 he was named Chief Medical Officer for Spine and Biologics.
We spoke with Dr. Mathews on January 19 and asked him why he was leaving such a high profile position in spine and joining VB Professional Services. We also asked Medtronic how the company plans to fill Mathews’ large shoes.
New Role
Mathews told us that he will be assisting MCRA (Musculoskeletal Clinical and Regulatory Advisors) in growing that company’s scope and penetration as a service to all device companies, big and small. He also expects to develop companies, within Professional Services, that provide ground level market research at the customer level that reflect trends that drive market adoption and performance.
Other service companies within Professional Services include medical affairs, professional consulting with market analysts, and product liability defense and risk mitigation.
Anthony G. Viscogliosi, told us that he and his brothers, Marc and John, reached out to Dr. Mathews because of his evolving role in the healthcare industry and his unique blend of skill sets that include: professional and academic relationships; product development history with dozens of patents; peer reviewed publications and chapter authorship and clinical research with PMA IDE principle investigator roles.
He noted Mathews’ MBA business training along with his understanding of the musculoskeletal market and drivers (including all stakeholders) that effect primary decision making at the customer level and critical thinking for understanding the risk benefit ratio for products and procedures.
Viscogliosi added,
All of which contribute to his natural incorporation into the VB family.
Medtronic Delegates Responsibilities
A Medtronic spokeswoman told OTW in a written statement on January 18 that the company plans to continue to work with Dr. Mathews on a number of strategic initiatives to “ensure business continuity.” The statement said, “The business has taken steps to delegate some of his key current responsibilities to other senior executives within the business. Ongoing collaboration with Dr. Mathews will afford Medtronic an opportunity to assess broader structural needs of the business while continuing to serve the needs of our customers and patients.”
Mathews has been active for decades in his professional societies include serving as a long time Board member, Secretary and CME Chairman for NASS, SAS, and ISMISS.
He can be contacted at: hal@vbllc.com.
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Discussion
This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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