Mike Genau Global President of the Active Healing Solutions™ Division of Kinetic Concepts Inc

Mike Genau recently packed up his family and bid a fond farewell to Annapolis, Maryland and headed to San Antonio, Texas to become the Global President of the Active Healing Solutions™ division for Kinetic Concepts Inc (KCI). KCI has two other divisions, Therapeutic Support Systems, which offers a clinically effective portfolio of beds, mattress replacement systems, and other products for wound care, bariatric care and critical care settings; and LifeCell, which develops and markets regenerative medicine applications for use in reconstructive, urogynecologic, and orthopedic surgical procedures. Mike has spent the last 20 years working for a number of different companies and various healthcare segments, ranging from patient monitoring in cardiology to wound care. His passion for the healthcare field was ignited in his early years as an EMT; his interest in wounds and wound care was fueled while he was an executive with Johnson and Johnson Medical, Inc., where over several years he gained a greater appreciation for wound care, patient care, and various products and technologies. Having started in the commercial end of the business and gradually working his way up the corporate ladder, Mike can recall learning all of the fascinating ways one could use technology and services to advance a patient’s overall quality of care. “My motivation and drive when entering in this business were that patients ultimately get to live a quality life and here I am, 23 years later, still trying to make a difference,” he says.      

At KCI, Mike’s team oversees product design, marketing, manufacturing, and support, which include sales, professional education, clinical expertise, and research. The vision of the Active Healing Solutions™ division involves some of wound care’s finest men and women targeting international success. “KCI’s focus is to transform medicine globally,” Mike says. “We do this by identifying unmet clinical needs then solving them. We see V.A.C.®® Therapy, ABThera™ and other products we plan to introduce as great tools for caregivers to advance the quality of care, to improve outcomes, and have an impact on the patient.”      

When asked how he defines his own personal mission at KCI, Mike explained that he takes the global concept seriously. “We need to reach more patients who need advanced wound care,” he says. “Looking around the globe, you see opportunities in the demographics. For example, in Japan, we’ve made a business objective to invest in the country while bringing our technology, support surfaces, education, clinical studies, and expertise to provide a higher level of care to potentially some 250, 000 wounds. NPWT is not used in Japan right now, so KCI will be the first to provide this advanced set of products and solutions.” As President, Mike also has to stay focused on helping his team perform the best they can in a competitive marketplace. “I see my personal responsibility as being the one who clears the way, helps employees really do their jobs, and helps physicians and nurses be successful by delivering products, solutions, education, and what’s needed in the care settings to improve patient outcomes. We want to be the company that not only offers solutions for what we see today, but also ways to work together to improve technologies for tomorrow.”      

Despite the tumultuous economic climate, KCI remains strong and optimistic. As a result of proven clinical outcomes and overall experience, the Active Healing Solutions™ team anticipates continued success. “We like our position today, and a lot of that is due to our experience and our proven clinical outcomes,” Mike says. “For instance, more than 500 journal articles have been published regarding KCI’s proven outcomes in treating more than 3 million patients. We’re a very resilient business that is built for the future, we continue to invest in technologies, and I think as a result we have done well in this challenging economic environment.”      

Mike’s focus revolves around patients first, all around quality, and cost-effectiveness. “We always think about what we’re doing everyday and how it might influence patient outcome,” Mike says. “We can never compromise this goal. We want to continue to provide the highest level of quality and service in the industry. My definition of quality exceeds just products. Quality is how fast we service customers and how accurately we operate. Everything we do has a quality metric associated with it. Regarding today’s economy, we know it’s challenging across the board globally and so it’s up to us as a leader in this industry to provide more than just product. We provide a host of solutions that cover the gamut, and we need to deliver those in the most cost effective way possible.”      

KCI is not just built on one product; it is built on a portfolio of products and concentrates on how each product addresses specific needs. “Our products are only as good as our professional education, how we train clinicians and technicians, and the evidence-based studies that underscore the accuracy and the quality of outcomes that comes through our products,” Mike notes. “It’s about the on-call clinical experts that are accessible 24 hours a day and how we simplify operational components. We call this 360 degrees of healing. KCI is the only company that provides this comprehensive way of thinking about care. It involves product — for example,V.A.C.® Therapy — but its much more than that. When examining 360 degrees of healing, we see that our customers and need tools and solutions. We can deliver something very broad, clinically sound, and comprehensive.”      Looking ahead, Mike notes that various products will continue to enhance KCI’s wound therapy business and build its brand. “We want to be seen as a total solution provider in the 360 degrees of healing,” he says. “We are and continue to be committed to bringing more innovation and more solutions to our patients.”