Part Analyst, Cheerleader, and Visionary, Ron Sparks is Scoping Out the Future

Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry Magazine
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An MD&DI May 1999 Column

Listening to Ron Sparks, newly appointed president of Smith & Nephew's endoscopy division (Andover, MA), it's easy to understand why he is often recruited to implement a new program, promote sales, or turn around a faltering concept. His enthusiasm and energy are top-notch, and one quickly figures out that he's the type who, when the door gets shut in his face, finds a window to crawl through.

Ron Sparks compares his role to that of a magnet pulling together diverse ideas.

Fresh out of the University of Massachusetts (UMass) management program, Sparks worked on a series of jobs, some in other industries, before he joined Smith & Nephew 16 years ago. "Without equivocation, this is the most exciting business that I've ever been part of," says Sparks. "The medical industry is great because you have the opportunity to help patients who are ill—to be in a position to help people with products and services. The marketplace is fast paced, fast growing, and it demands a lot of the people in it. But the level of reward goes far beyond that of a run-of-the-mill business."

Although Smith & Nephew is fourth in the endoscopy market behind Olympus, Ethicon, and U.S. Surgical, Sparks explains that the others are heavily specialized, whereas Smith & Nephew is the only company to have developed the means to access and repair a wide variety of tissue and organ systems.

New technology excites Sparks, and this sentiment is echoed in the division's strategic intent statement. "The statement shows who we think we want to be," he says. "We want to be the first choice of surgeons worldwide, but for surgical techniques or strategies, not products." Projects that intrigue Sparks include a hand-assisted laparoscopic procedure in which "the hand part allows a surgeon to bring the tissue to the instrument rather than the other way around," he explains. "Traditional laparoscopic systems are not intuitive, visibility is often difficult, and it is easy for a surgeon to nick the patient and hard to stop the bleeding." The Hand Port is not yet approved in the United States, although clinical trial results may change that in the third or fourth quarter this year. Until then, use is limited to the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain.

Improvements in what Sparks calls access technology have physicians excited as well. An orthopedic surgeon recently invited Sparks to look through a scope. Thinking that he already was familiar with the scope in question, Sparks wasn't overly eager at the outset but admits to being amazed at finding the resolution sharp enough to see red corpuscles traveling through blood vessels.

Drug delivery is undergoing a metamorphosis of its own. For example, an antiinflammatory delivered in a microencapsulated form can be released directly at the affected site rather than being administered through an IV and traveling throughout the body.

Since late 1995, Smith & Nephew has maintained a multimillion dollar partnership with UMass to continue its research efforts to develop improved surgical equipment and procedures. "For academic research—the thinking-out-of-the-box environment that we need—the university setting is the right place," says Sparks.

Smith & Nephew provides funding for the program, the university provides the space for lab work, and the surgeons and engineers work together every day. "It's a great program," Sparks says. "I can't say enough about it. The program helps a company like Smith & Nephew distinguish itself as a great company because it helps the evolution of surgical products and techniques." The first device to develop from that relationship allows surgeons to tie sutures with one hand by pulling a triggerlike mechanism.

Sparks describes his role as that of a chief visionary. "I'm the coach; I don't touch the football, but I stand on the sidelines and cheer when the team executes a great play," he explains. "I try to provide the answer to the question that asks what we're trying to accomplish. And I remember that every customer is three people—the user, the purchaser, and the payer."

In an effort to break down corporate walls, Sparks has an open-door policy that he hopes promotes a seamless company. "I don't want anyone to ever say, 'I did everything I was supposed to do, and then so-and-so messed it up,'" he explains. "I'd rather just analyze the situation and figure out what went wrong and why, not whose fault it was.

"At the same time, I have to look into the future, to get the headlights to shine out as far as they can. I constantly ask what's going to make something obsolete. My favorite quote is: 'The best way to figure out the future is to invent it.'"

Jennifer M. Sakurai is managing editor of MD&DI.

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