We received an email response to my May 16th Post from a dedicated field manager working for Fresenius. With respect to his desire to remain anonymous and given permission to post it, I wanted to share this with the rest of you because it gives good insight from a person who cares about his company and staff--and who is obviously loyal to his company.
What follows is the total message and my comments indicated in blue.
Comments: On your blog, you wrote: "My guess is that SCSG will eventually spin off all or parts of the newly acquired perfusion business and concentrate in the renal sector of their new venture." Has it not occurred to you that perhaps Fresenius would have made certain to include stipulations that effectively prevent this group from competing directly with them in any Dialysis-related businesses going forward? Making a guess like the one you made is at the very least uninformed.
I’m sure that Fresenius corporate (FMC) has laid out many stipulations regarding competing in dialysis-related businesses. It’s apparent that the Pharmacy and the IT units of the new company (SCSG) have a close business relationship with FMC. That's my point, although I qualify my statement to say it's a calculated guess, not one uninformed. The newly formed company that has acquired the old Fresenius Perfusion Unit has a strong background in the renal marketplace, and that’s where their comfort zone is.
Some very good Corporations like Baxter, Edwards Lifesciences, and even Fresenius, have attempted to make a success out of this Perfusion book of business. Apparently, their attempts have failed. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. One thing's for sure... SCSG has some smart business people and I'm sure that they're goal and results-oriented. I am sure everyone, including their managers, will be held accountable for the loss or gain of accounts in their respective territories. If this new Group cannot make a go of this perfusion business, they're not going to hold onto it. That's not uninformed or a wild guess--that's just good common business sense.
I realize you have your biases, and I have mine. Comments by either party that could be construed to be inflammatory and/or disruptive to the perfusion community should be avoided. This community is too small to have someone with a forum to be making comments such as; asking for condolences to be extended to the staff of the newly formed company. The simple fact that there is a change could possibly be a distraction to some staff to perhaps lose focus, therefore these statements are, in my opinion, unprofessional.
I appreciate and respect your opinion. Over the past several years, the Perf List, which is known throughout the perfusion community, has published a myriad of comments (both negative and positive) regarding this company and other contract companies. Respectfully, I am in variance with you that the comments in this blog could be disruptive to the perfusion community in general. As for being unprofessional, I would say that my comments were more pragmatic and rational than unprofessional.
As someone that has actually sat down and talked with these six accomplished health care officers, I see a very different picture. I see a group of people that turned a 70-something million Renal Care Group into a 1.6 Billion company, which they sold, and they did it in less than 10 years. An extremely large part of their success was due to stressing patient care above all other aspects of running a health-care-related business.
Any group of executives which takes a $70 million company and runs those revenues to $1.6 billion in 10 years is to be commended, and I can assure you that stressing patient care above all other aspects, is but one of the many attributes associated with Renal Care Group's success. As you know, they did not grow the company organically, but by a concise merger and acquisition strategy. And they grew it for one reason: to make money and to sell it for a huge profit--which I presume they did.
For the first time in a long time, the perfusionists, autotransfusionists, as well as the other technicians and staff, are under the leadership of a private group of proven-to-be-successful leaders in the health care field. A group of leaders that are quick to point out top-notch quality patient care is the focus about which revolves any and every decision of the new company. That focus is much clearer without having to satisfy shareholders.
I find it interesting what you indicate--that it's the first time in a long time that your leadership is competent and successful and that they have indicated to you that every corporate decision is based on quality patient care. But certainly you're not saying that having shareholders is a detriment to the growth of a company? It seems when one's on the inside, there's a human tendency to look at the world through myopic, rose-colored glasses. When some companies falter, the management sometimes inexplicably blames the shareholders--a tired old excuse for non performance. When they succeed who do they credit? That dog don't hunt anymore. This new bunch is going to go after accountability. That's not a guess, either.
Consequently, I do not share your dour mood about the future of the company, nor do I see this change requiring condolences to the staff. In fact, I see the opposite: this is a long-overdue, welcome chance for the staff to have ready-access to the Leadership Team, a team that is stressing patient care above all other concerns, with the resultant benefits to the staff, which icludes getting the top notch support needed to provide the very best patient care.
Dour or sour, I am not. Please understand the sentiment of my memorandum was upbeat. I'm sure that many of your colleagues are thankful for--as you say--the chance to have ready access to the leadership team.
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I think Trident and this newly formed company will better serve the patients entrusted to our care, as well better serve our respective staff, by competing with one another based upon patient care results. Not by making an uninformed "guess" about the future intentions of this accomplished health care team, nor by resorting to language such as requesting "condolences" to be extended to the competitor's staff.
Trident welcomes any and all competition based on a multitude of things, including the care of the patient. We have had a patient care philosophy that has permeated our entire company for many, many years. Trident has been growing steadily because of our good reputation and our care for the patient, as have so many other contract groups across the country these past five years. Our strongest asset is our people. We've never given false promises. We've not cut salaries to make our bottom line look better or to drive out senior perfusionists because their salaries were too high. We respect the opinion of the individual, without threatening his livelihood. We treat our client-hospitals with respect. We allow our folks to take their vacations, by supporting their efforts and we bring in replacement personnel so as not to jeopardize patient care. We never stick one perfusionist in one solitary account most of the time without relief. We know what patient focused care is and we know how to treat our people. That is why this year we celebrate our 19th consecutive year of successful growth.
Further, we send congratulations to our staff; we don't offer condolences--because there's no need for condolences. If you saw the resumes that come across my desk from disgruntled employees and former employees and the horror stories that they tell about how they've been treated, you would send condolences. I would bet on it.
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This isn't akin to democrats and republicans wrestling over political power, it's about perfusion providers taking care of patients. From my standpoint, regardless of any changes that may occur to you or any other competitor, you can expect to never see nor hear me communicate anything that could possibly contribute to ANY staff to become unfocused and risk taking their attention off of the patient care target. Although I may at times be disappointed, I expect the same professionalism from my competitors.
I think you may have confused definitions of professionalism with plain talking/rational-thinking. However, if I have written in the Blog anything to offend, it was not my intent.
I applaud and appreciate your comments and encourage you to continue a vigorous debate in an honest and open fashion. We wish you every good luck and perhaps, a year from now, I can send you our congratulations.
Reply in Blue by Ralph E. Jordan, CEO & President, Trident Health Resources, Inc.
