Growth Panel

I have been asked to sit on a panel at the HME Business Summit next Monday in Baltimore, MD. The Summit is an intimate gathering (100-150 attendees) of home medical equipment company owners and senior executives; emphasis is on idea sharing, best practices and networking for folks who are constantly trying to realign their business and drive improvement and innovation to better serve their customers and create sustainable competitive advantage.
The title of the seminar I will be on the panel for is; A Suitcase of Ideas Three Perspectives on Creating Strong, Sustainable Growth. We have been fortunate to have had several consecutive years of solid, manageable growth here at Cape Medical Supply – the following is a brief “why and how” we have grown so consistently;
1. Focus on service; this is number one for a reason – everything we do flows from our commitment to service – it’s the engine of our growth, the cornerstone of our reputation and the thing we take most pride in.
2. Acquisitions; we have made two thoughtful acquisitions – in doing so we rescued troubled businesses, ensured continuity of care for the patients they served, added some wonderful employees and worked hard to integrate in a way that didn’t compromise any service and allowed us to achieve some very strong growth.
3. New locations; we now have four retail locations – Hyannis opened Monday! – and we continue to receive positive feedback about our presence in the community and the accessibility our patients can maintain with us given that we have a physical presence in Sandwich, Plymouth, Falmouth, and Hyannis – along with our fleet of vehicles which crisscross Eastern MA daily.
4. Talented staff members; we continue to aggressively seek out the best and brightest and maintain incredibly high retention rates amongst our staff who enjoy the work environment, the opportunity to succeed, and the unique role they play in the lives of those we serve. Clearly we expect a lot of our staff, but if they are hard workers, creative problem solvers, operate with integrity and demonstrate above average competency for the job than they are rewarded with a wonderful work environment and the opportunity for personal and professional success.
5. Innovation; every day starts with the thought that there must be a way to do the job better. We are consistently re-aligning our back office technologies and functions, seeking to streamline processes and eliminate waste and redundancy. This focus on operating in the most efficient way possible – which still needs a LOT of work – allows us to focus our efforts on patient care, which is where more efforts across the healthcare continuum must be focused if we are to create and foster a successful system.
Growth is not a given in this environment – it’s something we work hard at every single day and take great pride in when we succeed. Every time the phone rings there is someone on the other end of the line ready to place their trust in us to care for them, their patients, or a loved one…we take that vote of confidence very seriously and our attention to their needs has made that phone ring again and again.
At the end of the day great thanks goes to our customers and team members – they drive the company forward every day and I am honored to work with and for them.