CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RF Surgical Systems, Inc., the market leader in retained surgical object detection, today announced the appointment of John Barnhill as Vice President of Marketing / Business Development and Matt Heim as Vice President of Global Sales. This continues the company’s commitment of adding key team members to enhance its growing business and further propel RF Surgical Systems through its next phase of high growth. RF Surgical Systems’ sales nearly doubled in 2013, as the company expanded its presence to greater than 300 hospitals in the U.S.
The addition of Barnhill and Heim follows the appointment last year of new President and CEO John T. Buhler. Buhler’s experience with accelerating the growth trajectory of companies, and acquiring and integrating products into dynamic businesses is helping RF Surgical Systems expand its core adjunct technology business and explore future opportunities in the broader retained surgical object detection market. Buhler plans to leverage the experience of Barnhill and Heim to continue focusing on emerging opportunities within the patient safety space.
Reporting to Buhler, Barnhill will be responsible for global marketing efforts and business development strategy. Previously, Barnhill was with Edwards Lifesciences, where he held several positions, including Senior Global Marketing Manager for heart valve therapy and Group Manager for Global Clinical Marketing and Professional Education. In his prior role as Global Marketing Manager for SenoRx, Barnhill successfully grew the company’s breast cancer therapy portfolio, which contributed to the successful exit of the company.
“By adding John to our team, the company has kicked off its efforts to enhance brand awareness and implement marketing strategies to support our growth aspirations,” said Buhler. “John’s marketing and branding expertise will help us reach and educate new customers about how the RF Assure Detection System can enhance patient safety through risk reduction of retained sponges.”
Heim will be responsible for all key aspects of RF Surgical Systems’ worldwide commercial organization. He will also be a member of the company’s strategy & leadership team. Heim will also report to Buhler.
Before joining RF Surgical Systems, Heim was Area VP of Sales at Intuitive Surgical, where he was responsible for sales and clinical strategy planning, budgeting, and resource planning, as well as key metric and measures that all led to profitable business growth. Prior to Intuitive Surgical, Matt spent six years with Datascope.
“Matt has exceptional sales leadership experiences, a great depth of knowledge in the healthcare arena as well as an excellent record of accomplishment in building and developing commercial organizations,” added Buhler. “We feel these key skills will benefit our efforts as we continue our aggressive growth trajectory and new market expansion strategy.”
About RF Surgical Systems, Inc.
RF Surgical Systems, Inc. is the market leader in the detection and prevention of retained surgical items. The RF Assure Detection System is the preferred solution in more than 300 U.S. hospitals and surgical centers. A number of US News & World Report “Honor Roll” hospital recipients recently joined the fast-growing list of care providers benefiting from the RF Assure Detection Technology.
RF Surgical Systems is based in Carlsbad, California. U.S. patents protect the advanced technologies used in the RF Surgical Detection System. Regulatory clearance to market the system was granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November 2006. Additional information about RF Surgical Systems, Inc. can be found at www.rfsurg.com.