LEXINGTON SHIT DOWN

You are trying to make some points here, but you are so uniformed I can't stay quiet anymore. When PPS heard about the MCR caps and competitive bidding they absolutely took steps to cut operational costs. My goodness, you are so uniformed and spewing so many untruths it's mesmerizing. They immediately put the 60 MC and the 36 MC cap process into place. These were very successful when there were weekly meetings, people were held accountable, and goals were set. When upper management took their eyes off this ball, and put it fully in the hands of the local centers this is when it started to fail. The whole reason for Lexington was to cut operational costs you dumbshit idiot. You can operate a lot more efficiently and cost effective when you conduct business in a centralized location. It's business 101. The whole issue here, and I've read other people state this in previous posts, is that there was not strong enough leadership in place to make it work. That is the honest to goodness truth. Certain people didn't buy into the Lexington project from the beginning and if there was strong leadership at the CEO position and other upper management positions then those people would have gone and done their jobs somewhere else. They were allowed to sabotage and fight against it for years. Strong change management is needed when you do something like Lexington into a "mom and pop" type of business which PPS was at one point in time. PPS tried to grow up, but they failed. PPS is still stuck in the mom and pop attitude. If this is what you want to be, then you are going in the right direction. If you want to be a top DME company like an Apria or Lincare you are absolutely going in the wrong direction. My sense is that PPS wants to remain small and not be a top player. That is fine, but with Obamacare and the the way insurance companies are cutting reimbursement, you will not last very long.

 

You can operate a lot more efficiently and cost effective when you conduct business in a centralized location. This comment makes sense for a distribution center that ships something like books but not for dme dealers. I can buy the idea that a centralized billing location may work for some smaller providers. The bottom line is that it did not work. A patient could not even call the branch driver directly. You are right no one answered the phone locally because they were told not to. The perception was awful and it was not competitive with what the other companies were doing. I have news for you. Apria is not doing so well either losing hundreds of millions last year and on pace to do the same this year. The cap hits killed PPS and no they were not ready. Whatever you say PPS did it never worked. The cap hits were on Kane and so is competitive bidding. The loss of the never ending payment for 02 and the reduction of 45% more in payment amounts was not planned for. PPS like most of the other clowns that Medicare mill don't even understand that winning the bids means losing more money. PPS had the third largest concentrator billings for Medicare in 2011 so you are actually a lot like Lincare yet Lincare makes money. Their upper management knows what it is doing. The whole of PPS problems originates with upper management. Kane was a top sales rep for a couple of years and then becomes a CEO? After being a city planner? A credit card exec is supposed to understand how we get paid? The company is a loser for many issues like these. Did you actually try to insult me? If you are defending the Lexington idea but blaming your own employees for its failure to work then you are the idiot. The folks at PPS who did fight it were right because it wasn't working then and it isn't working now.

 

So once again, you are either uneducated in this type of business or you simply choose to not listen to the facts that I've laid out. The 45% cut was not expected by any DME company, so there was no way for anyone to plan for that. I can tell you that PPS did try and plan for CB and the caps by implementing Lexington, cutting back on PTAN's to save on employee spend, and by doing acquisitions of other companies to name a few. That was their plan to address these cuts. They also did other things like restructuring commission structure, changing bonus plans, stopped giving raises to upper management, stopped the 401K match, etc...Those things were all put in place to help offset the drastic cuts that happened. Although again, nobody expected those cuts to be so drastic. Not defending Lexington, what I'm defending is that PPS did try and solve for some of these issues early on. The real problem, which you acknowledge, is that upper management didn't have strong enough people in place to drive this type of change. It's a huge culture change to implement something like a centralized location. It can be done, I've seen it and know companies that thrive in this field with centralized processes. You are still stuck in that "mom and pop" mentality. Also, not sure where you get that Kane was a top sales rep? He was the VP of Government relations for many years and was a top exec with PPS for a long time. I don't think he was ever a top sales rep as you state. These are facts, I know them well, so I'd appreciate you stop with the untruths and own slant on things as they are not even close to reality.

 

You are failing miserably in your arguments. Quit giving management raises was never an answer to the facts. In January of 2006 the highest % of revenue was going to come off the books in January of 2009. 100% of your Medicare patients that you actually had the proper documentation for would cap out. What did they do to prepare for the loss of revenue? Quit giving raises to executives who were all ready robbing the company profits? Like that was going to have any impact. No they continued on the path of waste and excess. Listen you sound like you might know some things so I ask you. When does the company get split up? My sources say year end.

 

Your sources are quite wrong.

This thread is embarrassing. Maybe if you put half this much passion into your job we would be better off. And seriously - Kane a sales rep? Wtf are you thinking? He may not have been the best CEO but he wasn't offered the position just for the hell of it.

The CCC was a great idea that just didn't work as well as planned. Acknowledge and move on.

 

I'm very sorry for your lack of understanding here, but you are seriously making a fool of yourself. As I've explained, several times now to be clear, they put the 36 and 60 month cap process in place, they tried to buy other companies to gain revenue, they cut spending, they tried to put in a centralized process to save money, etc, etc, etc....not sure why that is not registering in your brain on how PPS tried to save money and account for the loss of revenue from CB. Was it enough? Probably not, but it could have worked out very well if #1 - they could actually bill for the patients they acquired in a timely manner. Waiting over a year to get paid doesn't cut it. #2 - there was strong change management for Lexington to work. #3 - they didn't give the cap process fully back to the field. That's when it started to fail. #4 - they would have gotten rid of some upper management that wasn't bought into the change. #5 - they would have fired people like yourself that are simply dense and simply don't "get it"! I am done with this conversation now because you simply are a complete idiot. Have nice day.

 

Lack of expense control a couple of examples: The human resource department and paying for outside human resources ( Challey and Caldwell Partners ) if you really are in the know you would know that Challey was a waste of money with your rate of turnover. Caldwell Partners was outsourced to find your talent when you all ready have a large human resources department. Look you have no argument because it all failed so miserably. The single biggest goal of PPS was to avoid whistle blowers from going to the government. Its ironic how that is what caused the end isn't it? Buying companies for revenue after a cap was introduced doesn't make any sense. You still have to purchase the other companies, so you pay money out for a less than 36 month investment. Failing to unload upper management was a big mistake I agree, but again the rules were in place. The math was never done, when you know that on this day in 2009 you are losing a huge % of your patients revenue and you change nothing what did you expect? I'm not a fool, I'm not the one defending a defenseless company that is or has lost its Medicare provider numbers.

 

Kane could not sell religion to the pope, and he based upon what has happened over the last few years I wonder what government relations actually did. He was originally hired as a marketing person by Jim Doty (thanks Jim), and by having nice hair and riding his bike with Peter Kelly he found himself in the CEO position, during which he did little besides make inspiration speeches about rocks at low tide and weak links in the chain.

Part of me thinks that Peter Kelly's ego is so massive that he put Kane in charge so that the company that he built would fail without him.

 

Whatever about Chally..small price in the overall scheme of things. You obviously don't know how much it cost or how much PPS was actually making per year. This was a minuscule amount in the operational budget. Not sure where you get the information about "whistleblowers". Really is a stupid argument to be honest as that is simply not true either. I am not arguing that it all failed so miserably, what I am arguing is that you fail to see or acknowledge that PPS did take steps early on to address these problems. I laid those out in plain, simple terms but you continue to say that "on this day in 2009 you are losing a huge % of your patients revenue and you change nothing". That is 100% not true. You are a fool, because once again you fail to think those things through or acknowledge them for whatever reason. Once again you get schooled in overall logic, business acumen, and the truths of what really happened.

 

Exactly!

 

Challey a small price? You have to be kidding. Its not the cost of the test fools. Its the cost of all of those lousy employees you hired and fired and did it all over again. It just exhibits that you don't really know and understand the expense line in a budget. The whole carnival hiring atmosphere at those mass interview fest were nothing more than management looking for " new talent ". When in reality they might have been better served to get some people who knew what was really happening in the industry. I have often wondered how PPS explained managed care to these new sales people.

 

This is obviously a brownnoser who does not have a clue how PPS works. Typical PPS management.

 

Well, you guys had a Whistleblower and one who had access to lots of billing and reimbursement information. That's the bottom line here. If there had been nothing to report to the government there would have been no whistle blowing and no government raids. Your reimbursement department is being crippled by pre-audits and post-audits and the government breathing down their necks at every turn. One good thing is that I imagine your current billing and documentation is as clean as a whistle now (no pun intended.). The bad thing is that you're not raking in the money like you were before, your credit isn't too good right now, and your reputation is shot.

 

You are correct here, but unfortunately the "check point" for clean paperwork is now being taken away in Lexington. Reimbursement has been cut so much that they only check about 10% of the items that come through to them. They simply don't have the man power to keep up with all the issues and report them. I honestly can't tell you how many compliance issues came through Lexington that were never resolved. Caught stuff like forged signatures, blanket RX's, orders that came over from doctors that were never really sent over by that doctor. Oh yes, all that happened. (I'm sure Scott H will get on here now and say those things should have been reported properly. They were SH, they were). Now you take all those unsavory things and you now put it all back in the field where a PCC OR DSM will intimidate a local CSR to just "push it through" and you are back to where it all started. If the FBI are smart, which they are, I would wait about 6 months and come back and hit them again. They will find that within those 6 months the compliance that once was starting to take effect will have deteriorated in the field.

 

Yes, time to get into hospice care!

 

I want to preface this by saying that I have followed these PPS boards for many years but have never posted on here. This will be my first, only, and last post. I also realize that by posting my name I am opening up the door to those who wish to remain anonymous pussy's and drag my name through the mud. Please feel free to do so as I will not look at this site any longer. But please mention only ME as I've had to endure reading my wife and 8 year old daughters names on this miserable fucking hate filled website (and to whoever the dick-less coward was that wrote that, if you were trying to get to me, that did it, please come see me when you grow a pair). I have no desire to post anonymously on here because at this point I really don't have much to lose. And Jane, yes I know you're a lawyer and have armed yourself with many JD's to ensure all your legal bases are covered so rest assured that anything I say on here will be completely factual and not breach my contractual obligations to not make any disparaging remarks against PPS (by the way, this is laughable because PPS does this to itself without anyone having to say a word).




Now, I don't really want to get into the whole centralization v. decentralization argument, because I fully understand all the valid arguments for both sides and at this point the battle's over. Megan won. "And if the horse is dead, dismount, right" (verbatim what I was told by senior leaders in my office looking me straight in the face. Strong leadership guys!) Oh, and yes, Megan's the one referenced by another poster on here as the one who master minded a plan to shut Lexington completely down about a year ago. <--- Fact. And Megan, I hope you read this, because I've never met a more disingenuous person as yourself. Pretty smile all while sticking a knife deep in your back. I know your works, and since you are neither hot nor cold, but luke warm I spit you from my mouth. I'm one of the few people with PPS who has actually gotten to see things from both corners, so if your argument consists of "you're from Lexington, you just don't get what goes on in the field" you can fucking spare me that line of bullshit. I KNOW what goes on in the field. I've seen it, lived it, done it, and been a party to a lot of the things that disgust me now. I've come to accept the fact that Lexington was set up to fail. And it's failure is testament to the lack of leadership in this company to which as a leader of this company I'll also bear this blame. Instead of making the decision to centralize, standardize, mitigate risk, and do things the "right way", our senior leaders chose to amplify and encourage the petty bitching of a bunch of Prema Donna PCC's. My time in Lexington has opened my eyes to a lot of this company's dirty laundry and petty politics. And I for one am glad to be released from the obligations of my services.




I have to give thanks though for the fore warning of my departure. The people that were RIF'd in September were some of the few who actually gave a shit about this company and had it's best intentions at the core of every decision that they were making. I won't mention their names on here because I respect them all too much to do so without their permission. Jane, you sent a clear message in September. Loud and clear. Your value to PPS has nothing to do with loyalty, integrity, perseverance, hard work or the plain and simple blood, sweat, and pride that these people gave to YOUR company!




For those of you who blame Alan Winters and Ian Farmer, it's clear that you have very little knowledge as to what's really going on in this company. There's absolutely no denying the ability of either of these's guys ability to run a major company. For Christ sake, I've read people make arguments on here about how, "this isn't a credit card company". Like oxygen concentrators are such a complex business that you need a special order from God to deliver. Alan Winters and Ian Farmer have strong backgrounds in leading Fortune 500 companies, and their departures only exemplify the level of discombobulation that exists within the inner workings of this company.




So here we are carrying out our orders to march backwards. And as a good little soldier I'll faithfully keep taking a step back until I reach the edge. But I'll be damned if I go over without praising the hard work, dedication, and unwavering determination of every single person in Lexington. Maybe, one day, you'll have the same privilege as I've had to work with such a dedicated workforce. For your sake, I hope so.




Jane, you've pulled my card so I can only observe from afar, but for the sake of those that are left, I hope you've grown a pair since 2/2012 and don't go hiding in the parking lot again the next time the FBI shows up. When your iphone starts ringing around your neck, it may just be karma calling.

 

Nicely worded Mr. G! Thanks for validating some of the factual evidence I tried to portray earlier in my posts. I know people out there simply don't believe that or care to acknowledge what really happened, but what you say is exactly right on and factual. I will remain anonymous, but respect what you are saying and what you have tried to accomplish in Lex for many years. An uphill battle with MG for sure, and unfortunately you are right, she won. I fully believe in my heart that she will get hers in the end as she has no vision, is stuck in old school ways, and is seriously a snake in the grass. For those of you out there that choose that vision, I honestly wish you nothing but the best. Honestly I do, but I've seen other companies adapt to change, thrive in centralized processes, and have solid change management. As for MG many, many, many people don't know that about her and I'm hoping people who read this finally get a clue who she really is. I'm actually surprised the interim CEO chose that path, I thought she was smarter than that and learned from the former CEO's mistakes. You are also 100% correct on Farmer/Winters. They were true big company execs. Did they do everything right? Hell no they didn't! I don't think they truly understood the ingrained old school mentality that this company has. Or they did and thought they could change it. Mistake #1. It wasn't just MG either. This came down to the new guard vs. the old guard, and the old guard won. I too am done with this site as it it hate filled, skews the facts, and doesn't do much good. I simply am trying to let the people know who are sticking around what direction your upper management is taking and who is the real "driver" of that vision. I chose not to follow that direction because it's flat out wrong in my opinion. Good luck to all of you and hopefully this turns itself around, but if you want advice I would fire up that resume and start looking if I were you. This company will fail and fail miserably.

 

Yeah coming form the credit card industry is going to prepare someone for claims submission, payment delay, the January deductibles, and delivering the product long before payment is received. I bet it took awhile for them to comprehend the BS that is homecare!

 

What an idiot. I spent MANY years (7+) with PPS and can say for a FACT, ALLAN WINTERS AND IAN FARMER DID NOT KNOW A EFFING THING ABOUT RUNNING A DME.!!!!!! FACT<---- According to you 1 person, 1 PERSON is the reason PPS failed??? Good grief, put down the crack pipe.

 

Since PG won't be looking at this site any longer, someone may want to contact the local police and let them know you probably have a 51-50 on your hands. Hats off PG for having a "pair" but don't worry about anyone dragging your name through the mud because you have already done so with zero class. The hate spewing from your twisted mind is embarrassing to you, your family and the Lexington team. Way to go.