Since March 2016, Concordance Healthcare Solutions has focused on learning, strategizing and heavy lifting
Dave Myers
Converting three – then four – independent med/surg distributors into a cohesive, multimarket, national distributor is a work in progress. Concordance Healthcare Solutions Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Dave Myers says the process is proceeding well – aided by plenty of learning, strategizing and heavy lifting.
In March 2016, Kreisers, Inc. (Sioux Falls, S.D.), MMS – A Medical Supply Company (Earth City, Mo.) and Seneca Medical, Inc. (Tiffin, Ohio) formally approved their merger, to form Concordance Healthcare Solutions, LLC. In February 2017, Concordance acquired Rockwell Medical Supply in Southern California.
Today, the company has approximately 1,000 employees, 19 distribution centers and annualized sales of over $1.2 billion.
“Our leadership team is dedicated to being a highly innovative, multimarket healthcare solutions company operating with integrity and unwavering commitment to exceptional service,’” says Myers. “We are living out this commitment in every area, in particular, with our focus on service to every class of trade.”
A time for learning, adjustments
The time between the March 2016 merger and now “was clearly filled with learning about our organization, structuring our company for effectiveness, starting company systems and operations integration, solution development, marketing and branding, and much more,” says Myers.
Historically, Seneca was acute-care and integrated-health-system-focused; Kreisers was strong in acute care and alternate site, with a highly reputable government division and lab presence; and MMS effectively spanned most markets, including some niche ones, says Myers. Molding a multimarket company has called for some adjustments.
“We have expanded some roles,” he says. For example, the MMS equipment team now supports the entire company, and Concordance added a resource to support that initiative. In addition, some acute care team members in each legacy company have moved into Veterans Administration account manager roles. Nearly every functional area has experienced some degree of increased involvement across the company and in new markets.
“We have selectively, strategically, taken some individuals and refocused their role in a specific market, new geography, or expanded functional area,” he continues. “And we will continue to do that.” But only after deliberation and learning.
“There is clearly a resource- and expertise-sharing process occurring across the organization, as employees from each legacy organization learn about customer expectations and service needs of different markets, and the solutions we deliver,” says Myers. “We are committed to investing in each segment across sales, operations fulfillment, technology, solutions, and support resources.
“We have worked throughout this year on training in all departments, but candidly, this never ends, and we have so much more to get accomplished. We have an organization plan to continue to build this training curriculum, because we know that employee development is one key to our success. We are also holding a number of team training meetings this summer and fall across most of our market segment teams. Training must become a continuous process for everyone, and this is one of our core strategic initiatives.
“It’s exciting to see us sustain our historical strengths, expand education and awareness, push each other to learn and think differently, and grow. I personally have a ton to learn, and we all have more hard work ahead, but our comprehensive class-of-trade positioning strategy is a differentiator for Concordance, and it will pay off.”
Product offerings
Another point of differentiation is the company’s commitment to what Myers calls horizontal integration, that is, “a very broad supplier and product offering that does not limit availability and optimal value, like some vertical models.”
“Our customers expect us to provide the products they desire, to enable ongoing access to savings and quality, to be responsive to stocking and unit-of-measure requests, and much more,” he says. “We will work to help our preferred suppliers expand market share across our company and within targeted accounts, but we aren’t letting SKU consolidation strategies drive our service model.
“We talk with customers about the value of standardization, formulary procurement, SKU rationalization, and the importance of minimizing exclusives, but we are also collectively engaged in the patient care process and will stock and service what our customers need.”
Concordance will continue to emphasize manufacturer-branded products versus private label products, he says.
“When a distributor leverages a private brand or suite of solutions or category bundling strategy to present some of the pricing models we sometimes see, we believe there is a clear departure from integrity and service commitment. We aren’t going down that path. We strive to be a customer’s trusted advisor, not a self-brand sales company. We focus on cost versus price, and cost is comprised of multiple elements – product selection/price/utilization, process cost, and opportunity cost. Our value equation leverages breadth of brand – not exclusive brand.
“We do offer our customers an exclusive brand, and it’s a key part of our solution for providing ongoing cost reduction to them. However, the brand is not our primary emphasis.” In that sense, Concordance is going against the grain, he says. “We are really trying to emphasize the growth of share with our strategic branded partners.”
IT considerations
Much of the heavy lifting following the March 2016 merger has involved information systems.
Kreisers completed integration onto Seneca Medical’s operating platform in fall 2016, and MMS and Rockwell are planned for integration by year-end 2017, says Myers. “We are also implementing a new telecommunications system across the organization, and going live with a fully integrated web platform and intranet solution, which will be critical for training. We have cross-functional teams working on the system integration project and training associated with roll-out. This project is fundamental to our legacy companies truly becoming one.”
Today, each of the company’s 19 distribution centers is situated to support multiple markets, though different levels of penetration exist across market segments. “It’s an evolution,” says Myers. “We are working to serve all classes of trade from each of our DCs, and to scale appropriately as the business evolves.”
Concordance has been busy adjusting and renewing national GPO agreements. The company continues to implement its agreement with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and it launched a new agreement with Premier as well as a refreshed one with HealthTrust Purchasing Group. Concordance also has a consolidated Vizient portfolio, after merging its MedAssets and Novation agreements. “We have signed with Intalere and others, especially regional collaboratives and affiliates of national GPOs,” says Myers. “These are all important relationships.”
The Rockwell acquisition – completed in February 2017 – represents an opportunity for Concordance to “plant a flag firmly on the West Coast,” says Myers. “We have hired additional representation and engaged in a significant amount of training to get them prepared to accelerate growth there.” Though the acquisition immediately strengthens Concordance’s presence in the West Coast non-acute market, “we will leverage this new presence to help springboard us into the acute care space as well,” he says.
Value prop
Myers is confident that the merger has benefited all stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, business partners, employees and shareholders.
“We have continued to expand our customer relationships while maintaining high retention levels,” he says. “Our suppliers have been incredible to work with and have responded with excitement about being part of the solutions Concordance is delivering – without the focus on a private brand. Business partners are very engaged with us – GPOs, business support services, etc. – and they are interested in being part of our plans for the future. Employees have been awesome – hard-working, patient, committed. Shareholder expectations have generally been exceeded.
“Is it perfect? Never. Are we passionate and committed to doing the right things for all our stakeholders? Absolutely.”
In the next 12 to 18 months, Myers expects another year of heavy lifting.
“We plan to stay the course and see the integration of our systems be successful. We will then be in a position to operate as one company,” he says. “We will continue to grow in all care segments, retain and attract great talent, show our suppliers that our model is superior, launch some exciting new positioning strategies that help customers understand our value better, and accelerate their decision to choose Concordance over others, and much more.”
Concordance voices
Concordance asked people throughout the organization to answer one question: “Over the last year, what are the greatest opportunities the Concordance merger has created for you?” Here are their responses.
Ron Roehl, Executive Vice President – Sales and Lab
“The Concordance merger has given me the opportunity to meet and work with industry leaders I have respected over the years. I have been on both sides of acquisitions over my years, but this merger is a true blending of strengths and an honest search for best practices. I think it was good for our industry and a welcome event for our customers and vendors.”
Pam Wescott, Customer Service Supervisor
“The greatest opportunity I have been presented with because of this merger is the ability to meet and work with so many more amazing people. I have been fortunate enough to work on both phases of the integration, and that has proved to be very challenging and incredibly rewarding at the same time.Our three companies truly are cut from the same cloth, and it has been really great to be able to interact with them. It’s also allowed me to see more viewpoints and perspectives on functioning in our industry, how others have succeeded, and how we can implement different tactics to continue to be successful as a unified group moving forward. I can’t wait to see what we can do in the future.”
Kevin McDonnell, Executive Vice President – Operations
“I have had the opportunity to meet people from different parts of the country, share ideas, experiences and possibilities. I have also seen new positions created as we start to understand what path we are taking, and the ability to offer these positions to people who are interested is gratifying. I have had the chance to travel, see the various operations, meet all of the great people who work for this company, and a chance to develop and enhance my skill knowledge. I’m looking forward to more and more as we get onto one system.”
Amy Jordan, Vice President – Purchasing
“The collaboration of individuals from Kreisers, MMS and Seneca has allowed us to move forward with best practices in all functional areas. Utilizing the best practices around purchasing has created efficiencies that otherwise would not have been afforded to each of the legacy companies.I continue to work with amazing individuals from all legacy companies to grow Concordance to a new level each and every day.”
Kelly Siebert, Regional Sales Coordinator
“Over the last year, I have seen many growth opportunities in the Concordance Medical Division. It joins several of our non-acute markets: primary care, community health, lab, long term care, home care, hospice and nursing schools. I have been with Legacy MMS for the past 12 years in our Long Term Care division, and now as part of the Medical Division team. I have been given the opportunity to learn so much about the different areas of healthcare – the items they use, the way their markets and customers operate, and what is important to them. As our customers in different markets learn, integrate and grow together, so does Concordance.”
Lisa Hembree, Contracts & Customer Service Manager
“The merger has given us the opportunity to meet and discuss our current practices and to choose the best path for our new company. I discovered that one thing that the three legacy companies had in common was our dedication to put our customers’ needs first. With new tools and ideas, we can service our customers with the same personal attention and with more advanced technology and resources. This has been beneficial to both our customers and our staff.”
Greg Huber, Vice President – Application Development
“The Concordance merger has allowed us to bring ‘best in breed’ business practices from each of the three companies and incorporate into one to achieve true synergy as one company.”
Jennifer Brickner, Contract Manager
“The greatest opportunity I have had during this merger is learning more about the people in the department and coming together through it all.”
Judi Boc, Director – Marketing
“The Concordance merger has given me the opportunity to be involved in creating, strengthening and executing our new brand. With this merger came an expanded and greatly motivated marketing team. Working with new people from all over the country has given our team the chance to better understand all aspects of medical distribution and the ability to integrate that into our new digital marketing strategy.”
Laondria Crawford, Accounts Receivable Supervisor
“Over the last year, the greatest opportunity the Concordance merger has created for me has been to meet talented people from Kreisers and Seneca. The merger has allowed me to be a part of the company growth experience. I look forward to the full circle of the merger.”
Bill Black, Director – Supplier Relations
“The merger of three like-minded, privately held, entrepreneurial organizations to form Concordance has provided exponential opportunities to provide exceptional service through escalated access to programs and services as well as a broader customer type, expanded geography and extensive supplier network. As a part of the Supplier Relations Team, merging the three legacy companies together has strengthened our relationships with our current suppliers and broadened the supplier network, earning mutual trust and growing partnerships with our customers.”