February – Said Hilal, CEO of Applied Medical, speaks at the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging to urge lawmakers to push forward with efforts to draft and enact legislation that permanently reforms unethical “quid pro quo” behavior and restores grants and research funds to their proper and constructive role in the process. Hilal notes that enacting legislation and enforcing existing laws will help benefit patients, hospitals and healthcare, and improve clinical outcomes, plus allow continued competitiveness of innovative U.S. manufacturers in world markets.
October – The company [Applied Medical], which has more than 760 local workers, has seen its overall work force grow to nearly 1,000, up 30% from a year ago. Applied Medical’s added more than 150 workers locally in the past year. “The ability to find talented people is not a problem,” [Said] Hilal said. “We would like to think that we have a disproportionate number of exceptional people who not only want to innovate, but at the same time make a difference.”
September – Said Hilal, CEO of Applied Medical, speaks at joint hearings with the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice Division on Health Care and Competition Law and Policy about bringing a free market to the medical device industry. Hilal discusses the need to break the “bundle” – a practice used by other medical device manufacturers to prohibit competitive products from entering the market. He notes the importance of manufacturers being able to provide high quality, value-priced, innovative products for better clinical and cost outcomes.
June – Because of the company’s commitment to development, there is always a new product entering production. In a recent Inc. magazine article, Applied was named one of the top 50 most innovative private companies in the United States, possibly because one out of every $5 of revenue is devoted to R&D.
November – … After a sale, representatives make follow-up calls at least every quarter. Applied Medical uses the conversations to help with new-product development. "We ask our customers what they want to see in our future products – what problems they have that we can help resolve," says [Said] Hilal. "We consistently remind ourselves to listen to what the customer needs, not what we need."
August – Innovative companies encourage employees to look to the future for ideas. Yet those ideas must produce plans that can go into development today. How do such businesses maintain their head-in-the-clouds-feet-on-the-ground equilibrium? Said Hilal, CEO of Applied Medical Resources, manages by subjecting futuristic visioning to business-school rigor.
June – …The company [Applied Medical] said it had received marketing clearance from the FDA for the new device [GelPort]. Applied Medical said the GelPort is “the most significant advancement in hand-access laparoscopy technology [HAL] since HAL was first introduced over five years ago.” The device has been designed to make it easier to perform complex minimally invasive (MIS) laparoscopic procedures and provides advanced access to the operative site.
