Industry Insider: An Inside Look at MTI Inc.

For this month’s feature, Today’s Wound Clinic spoke with Jeff Baker, president. Today’s Wound Clinic (TWC): How long have you been in wound care, and how did you enter this area of healthcare? Jeff Baker (JB): MTI entered the wound care space as an extension of our podiatry product line in 2009. There was an unmet need in the industry for exam and procedure chairs and tables that provided exceptional reliability, technological advancements, and ease of use — with comfort, safety, and accessibility for the patient. We’ve also been able to provide a very innovative and successful product designed to help reduce healthcare worker injury from lifting a patient’s legs, which is required for certain procedures. TWC: What’s your day-to-day role? JB: Daily responsibilities can encompass phone calls from international dealers, serving on an American Diabetes Association (ADA) advisory board in Washington, DC, responding to emails from field representatives for customer quotes, setting up a booth at a trade show, recommending product redesign elements to an engineer, or helping pack product for an outbound shipment. Of course, the normal activities of sales analysis, meetings with the senior team, and an occasional lunch also occur. It has been a tremendous success story for me over the recent decades, building a company from scratch. TWC: What do you find most rewarding about providing for your industry? JB: At the end of the day, my satisfaction is filled when a doctor or clinician compliments our product for its functionality, new design, durability, or the service they received from MTI. In wound care, our specialized bariatric chairs and new Leg Wrapping Supports have been rewarding for me from design to production to delivery to the satisfied customer. It is all about the quality of one’s product or service that speaks volumes. I sleep well at night knowing we’ve accomplished both when it’s reinforced by the customers we serve. TWC: How would you describe the overall mission of your company? JB: MTI is committed to producing high-quality and competitively priced products for the markets we serve while being dedicated to our customers, associates, and community. We seek to be the best in our industry and will always strive to do so by employing qualified and trained associates, listening to our customers’ needs and desires, and never losing our thirst for success. TWC: What’s new with your company in 2013? JB: After rigorous field testing, MTI will introduce some new products for wound care. We are about to release a new and exciting product designed to reduce healthcare worker injury, provide greater accessibility to patients, and improve patient outcomes. We’ve also hired key roles within the company to drive our brand and product globally and to better serve our customers. In short, we are positioning ourselves for the next phase of growth, which is very exciting. TWC: How is your company unique? JB: MTI is proud to be an innovator in the healthcare industry by providing strength in patient care. Our primary goal is to design and produce the most technologically advanced, durable, reliable, ADA-compliant, and competitively priced products in the industry. Our products are known throughout the industry for their strength, superior quality, and longevity at an affordable price. We were the first American manufacturer to universally employ the use of 24-volt DC-powered motors in the markets we serve. MTI’s low-voltage DC motor technology provides smooth and reliable operation without the use of hydraulic fluids, positioning sensors, or limit switches. We’ve also been awarded several patents and have several more patents pending on devices and accessories designed with the help of surgeons and the physicians we serve. We have more than 75 years of combined industry experience at MTI, and the resulting superior product demonstrates our competitive advantage. TWC: Why are you passionate about the work of your company? JB: I come to work every day excited about the possibility of discovering a new potential for one of our current products or for the chance to solve a systemic or individual problem weighing on one of our current or potential customers. I think the challenge of the work is what motivates me every day. TWC: How is your company approaching challenges in wound care? JB: The first is our decision to enter the market in 2009 at the request of medical professionals who needed our product, and the second is the products we’ve pioneered in the wound care space. MTI’s new Leg Wrapping Support system comes in a chair, hospital bed, and portable version. It is another breakthrough product allowing a single healthcare worker to wrap most patient leg sizes, eliminating the difficulty of supporting a patient’s leg with multiple caregivers. This ergonomic solution for preventing healthcare worker injury has been instrumental. We have also tackled the challenge for bariatric patients by developing the MTI 527W chair, which lifts 800 lbs. TWC: What are your most popular products and/or services? JB: The MTI 527 Tri-Power and 527W Bariatric Tri-Power chairs. The 527 lifts 650 lbs. and the 527W lifts 800 lbs. Both of these chairs offer auto return; slide-back removable patient arm rests, which are reversible for prone position of the patient; extendable leg rest; a debris tray; and designer or smooth upholstery cushions. TWC: How do you ensure proper training on products and services? JB: MTI attends more than 40 tradeshows globally each year. We assign our field personnel to these shows to continually learn about our new products, accessories, and features. We also conduct annual national sales meetings over a three-day period where we train our representatives on all aspects of product design, build, and use. Our representatives are well qualified to set up products and train healthcare workers upon purchase of new equipment. They are then evaluated on the process by the customer. We are constantly evaluating our customer service in regard to delivery, setup, and post-sale training. TWC: What are the future goals for you and your company? JB: I look forward to continue providing leadership to a rapidly growing healthcare company. And we look forward to expanding the specialty markets we now serve by introducing new, innovative products designed with the patient and physician in mind in several specialties yet to be announced.