Glen Mills, PA – Ostomy Wound Management (OWM), one of the most important and widely read trade magazines in the wound care industry, featured Medical Solutions Supplier’s Joe Carberry in the December 2012 online “CEO Spotlight.”
“This was a great opportunity to tell our story to the many healthcare professionals who read OWM for its clinically oriented and cutting edge reviews,” remarked Carberry. Topics covered included the mission/vision of the company, biggest accomplishments to date and a look at the future of this leading distributor of compression pump therapy.
The full article can be accessed by following this link:
http://www.o-wm.com/exclusives/ceo-spotlight-joe-carberry-medical-solutions-supplier. Highlights of the column are reprinted as follows:
OWM: Please describe the education, training, and work experiences that prepared you for your current position as CEO at Medical Solutions Supplier.
Despite not having a formal education, I’ve always been an avid reader and was inspired by the insights of experts such as Verne Harnish, Jim Collins, and Gary Hamel.
Fresh out of high school, I began my career in telemarketing and moved on to become a top account executive for an environmental health and safety-training firm in Philadelphia.
While I was playing golf with a friend, Steve Kantor, the President and Owner of Medical Solutions Supplier, he mentioned his desire to expand the company’s sales. Unsolicited but inspired, as a favor I developed a business plan to hire, train, and support a full-time sales team for Medical Solutions Supplier.
When Steve Kantor read the plan, he offered to bring me on board to implement it. With only a laptop, a cell phone, and a folding table, my journey with Medical Solutions Supplier began in November 2004. What started in the basement of Steve Kantor’s townhome with just three employees now employs approximately 70 people and produces about 35 times the yearly business it had in 2004.
OWM: What should our readers know about Medical Solutions Supplier?
Our slogan is “Improving Quality of Life,” and that mission is the fuel that motivates our team. We currently help more than 800 new patients a month with our pneumatic compression devices, which help alleviate chronic pain or reduce swelling for those suffering from conditions such as lymphedema and venous disease. The devices also speed up the healing of chronic wounds in the comfort of a patient’s home. Although other companies sell the same pneumatic compression pumps as Medical Solutions Supplier, we pride ourselves on the manner in which we serve our patients and partner with physicians and insurance companies to ensure people get the help they need. Our clients come first.
OWM: How were you first introduced to wound care and why do you enjoy working in this arena?
Steve Kantor introduced me to the arena of healthcare in which we provide our services. We began offering our device to the edema market with a full-time sales force, but we quickly discovered our device not only helped close chronic wounds, but also maintained closure with much more efficacy than any other products in the market. This valuable information was gleaned primarily from the first few representatives we hired.
From the start, we believed it was crucial to empower our employees to effect change in the organization. This is just one example of how employee feedback resulted in a transition; in this case, by shifting the majority of our focus to wound care and treating the conditions affecting these patients.
I enjoy this field of work because of the many hundreds of testimonies we receive from people whose lives are better because of the therapy and because of their experience with Medical Solutions Supplier. From a woman who wrote that she can finally take a walk with her husband again after dinner to the more extreme cases where amputation has been avoided due to the use of the pump, it’s gratifying to make a positive difference that allows patients the ability to maintain the gains accomplished in treating their conditions.
OWM: What are some of the company’s biggest accomplishments thus far? What are some of the key products and/or functions that clearly distinguish your brand?
Our greatest accomplishment will always be the number of patients we have helped, a number that grows steadily each year. In the last 3 years alone, almost 25,000 individuals have benefitted from Medical Solutions Suppliers pneumatic compression pump therapy.
Another accomplishment that distinguishes the Medical Solutions Supplier brand is our commitment to education. Our team conducts hundreds of in-service trainings annually for the medical community to raise awareness of the relationship between lymphedema and chronic venous insufficiency and the efficacy of pneumatic compression pump therapy.
Lastly, the importance of education extends to our patients. This priority led to the creation of a personalized, at-home delivery and training system unique in our industry. We strive to ensure persons who need our pneumatic compression pumps receive them and that once they have obtained the equipment, that they learn how to use the pump properly to maximize their results. Our team is there to guide them through the process.
OWM: Please describe the mission/vision of your company and how your personal vision fits with the company’s goals.
I believe in creating an environment that empowers the individual. If you establish that kind of corporate culture, you’ll get a whole new level of creativity, passion, and ideas from your employees.
In today’s world, you can’t afford to stifle the creativity of the people in your organization for the sake of managing them to get a task done on a daily basis. I have come to realize that this type of environment is rare in our corporate world today. At our company, it could not have been achieved without a remarkable owner, Steve Kantor, who was open to new ideas and who gave me carte blanche to effect change within the organization. Despite my limited experience at the time, he put his trust in me and enabled and encouraged me to succeed. On the strength of this corporate culture, Medical Solutions Supplier is constantly repositioning for success.
OWM: Please explain what must take place on a daily basis at Medical Solutions Supplier in order to accommodate patients, clinicians, and healthcare facilities.
It’s all about effective teamwork. First and foremost, we work to ensure the right people are in the right positions to execute our corporate strategy. We are a full service, hands-on durable medical equipment (DME) company with a well-trained infrastructure to handle our external outreach.
Our team of certified sales representatives constantly seeks to inform medical professionals through ongoing inservice training. Our internal team upholds high standards to ensure that appropriate documentation results in coverage for our pneumatic compression devices. Our shipping department’s commitment to quality control gets the correct device to the patient. Our delivery representatives guide the patients through their initial set-up to ensure proper use of the pumps. As a Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) accredited DME, compliance with the full spectrum of regulations is a top priority. Each department and division understands that its job is integral to achieving our primary goal — ie, getting a pump to every person who needs one.
OWM: Looking ahead, what are some incentives or products the company is working on?
Although we are a leader in sales of pneumatic compression pumps, markets remain that we have not fully saturated, providing room for growth. The success of Medical Solutions Supplier has been built on a unique, service-oriented system for the delivery of this effective therapy and will be our focus for some time to come. Whatever falls under the MSS umbrella in the future will be compatible with our core values and our brand promise of “Improving Quality of Life.” That is a broad and exciting vision that holds great promise for the future.
For more information on Medical Solutions Supplier, visit www.lymphapress.com.
