In our first edition of Faces of Palm Desert; we had the privilege to sit down with the COO of My-Cardia, Jeff Baltor. My-Cardia utilizes the world’s smallest footprint ECG recorder – discreet, convenient, and simple for patients to use. This single-use device can record both patient activated and auto-triggered ECG events for up to 30 days, with detection for atrial fibrillation, tachycardia, bradycardia and pauses. Single-use eliminates device handling and management as well as ensuring that each patient receives a new device for their monitoring period. MY-CARDIA System is Cloud based providing easy access for reporting & recommendations to be reviewed by physicians.
Across the world, atrial fibrillation has become a major health concern. This condition untreated can lead to serious heart disease and or fatal events. Treatment is something that can be accomplished with a variety of surgical and non-surgical treatments. Therefore, early detection is a significant advantage.
Telemedicine has evolved of the past 30 years. Patients and medical professionals can share information for a variety of disease states. The earliest forms of telemedicine simply used a telephone to check on an individual’s mental state. Jeff Baltor was introduced to remote monitoring about 20 years ago. At that time, he worked for a Japanese company that manufactured Blood Pressure Monitoring equipment. That company introduced the first personal blood pressure monitor that had an RS-232 port which allowed data from the device to be sent to a computer. They sold these devices to a variety of Telemedicine integrators. To this day, that product is still in use.
During this time, Jeff met Harry Platt an entrepreneur and engineering genius from Sydney, Australia who had developed some unique technology that would simplify the transmission of medical data through a telephone. He and his partner were interested in forming a joint venture with the Japanese company to send blood pressure data to physicians using a portal. After nearly a year of discussions, the Japanese company declined the opportunity. In the meantime, Harry and his partner launched a publicly traded company on the Australian Stock Exchange. Jeff was recruited to manage the US Operation. Jeff recalls, “I ran Wellness Monitoring in Northern California for 5 years. We had some success with a couple of major pharmaceutical companies as well as working with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine on a Smoking Cessation project. Ultimately, the focus of the company changed to ECG and my office had ran its course.”
In 2007, Harry formed another ECG monitoring business Heart Event Monitoring and was working with a Canadian investor who lived in Palm Desert. He asked Jeff if he was interested in running the company in Palm Desert. Jeff was excited about this new opportunity, “for years, I had been eager to move from the Bay Area to the Coachella Valley, so I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, our funding fell apart in the 11th hour so the company never got off the ground.”
Jeff spent the next few years still in the Bay Area working with Product Development firms specializing in Medical Devices, Biotech and Diagnostics. In 2012, Jeff moved to La Quinta and then in 2015, he heard from Harry again. “He told me that he developed an improved ECG device called the myCam. He was eager to get a new business established and asked me to help him get it started in North America. In early 2016, My-Cardia was born. In May of 2016, I discovered Fusion Workspaces and signed a lease for our first suite.”
After a few years of raising some capital and making some key hires My-Cardia built an incredible team. They officially began to sell devices in December and are looking forward to making their mark in the Cardiac Monitoring industry.
My-Cardia (USA), Inc. is a subsidiary of Prevent-Healthcare and they are truly an International company. They have a sister office in China, Harry is the Founder and CTO and resides in Sydney, Australia. The President, David Rubin resides in Tel Aviv, Israel, their CFO resides in Calgary, Canada and the sales team is spread across the USA. The company will soon be listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange. Their mission is to provide advanced diagnostic tools for better disease detection, prevention and treatment, resulting in better care management.
Jeff’s story begins with intentions of going to Medical School after he earned his bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley. Jeff recalls, “things changed rather quickly when my father’s health deteriorated, and I was suddenly running the family shoe business. After a few years, my family and I decided it was time to close the business and lease out the Silicon Valley property. At that point, I thought I would take a stab at commercial real estate. I got my CA Real Estate Sales License and was ready to go. Unfortunately, things did not work out as I planned—the commercial market in the Bay Area was in decline and I had just got married so it was time for plan B.”
Jeff first went to work for a medical diagnostics company and eventually ended up in International Marketing. It was there he started to work with diagnostic instrumentation and laboratory automation. He was exposed to the engineering and manufacturing groups and worked on large scale projects. He went on to a start-up diagnostic company and became the Director of Marketing & Sales for Asia Pacific and Latin America. After a few years this company was acquired by Hitachi. After some stints with product development firms, he tried something new; selling IT training. He eventually returned to laboratory science and served as the Western Regional Manager for a company that specializes in liquid handling.
Jeff has a diverse background. “I have primarily been involved in business development and strategical marketing. Over the past 30 years, I have work in a variety of fields including Real Estate, Clinical Diagnostics, Product Development, Laboratory Equipment, Engineering and IT Training.”
He still practices real estate. “In the past few years, I have represented friends with the sales and acquisition of homes here in the valley.” Outside of work, Jeff interests include home renovations, pets and college athletics.
Jeff credits Fusion Workplaces on a variety of levels for the success of My-Cardia. “The fact we did not have to purchase furniture and deal with utilities has helped us conserve capital. The facility is ideally located for visitors with hotels and restaurants in proximity. Our team has utilized meeting rooms and we have benefited greatly from the Fusion support staff.” When asked about the staff, “it seems whenever we need some extra help; Loryn has been there. She has helped us with obtaining additional space (we have 3 spaces), adding static IP lines and providing us with a fantastic work environment. Judith has also been extremely helpful and never backs away from some challenging tasks including some Spanish translations.”
To learn more about My-Cardia and their products; you can visit their website.