RS Medical

The evolution of RS Medical has been painful and difficult for many people. It is disappointing that the only viable solution to address ongoing challenges in healthcare is to drastically change how and where some of the work gets done. However, if the company is to survive, it is absolutely necessary. if When things don't go our way, we all look for someone to blame. I suggest we all look passed the leadership of RS Medical and look at our healthcare system, Congress, Medicare and the current and former political leadership of this country. It is the action and/or inaction of these parties that have brought RS Medical to this place. As difficult as this is, I stand behind RS Medical and wish them nothing but the very best as they work to survive and prosper.

 

Shut up.

 

Hope the kool aid tastes good!

 

Do you stand behind rs as someone who has lost his job to outsourcing?
I'm glad you are willing to blame all the entities you mentioned and not Konsin, most of us are not as brain washed.

 

Well said!

 

It is hilarious that the sponsor ad for this RS Medical thread is reaching out to potential Medicare whistle blowers. How appropriate!!!! Hopefully JKs position is the next to be outsourced

 

Too bad they won't even do the right thing by those leaving, no one expects special treatment, they are only asking for what they are entitled to.
You cant see me John, but I'm flipping you off.

 

Really - is it only your opinion that has any merit?

 

Really - Yes. You will count when you stop spouting nonsense, until them shup!

 

Quit trying to sound smart, you look stupid. this is a Profit based decision, no more no less.

 

Of course it is profit based..........no profit, no paycheck, no company!!

 

I hear it's going terrible

 

There is a difference between profit growth and sales growth. Profit growth is very short term. "If a company is continuing to cut jobs in order to meet profit targets, it could be a sign of serious problems with its business model." (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) One could easily argue that this is about quick returns for the investors, or more likely about Konsin getting his "profit based" bonus or even him keeping his job. I have intereviewed with a few competitive companies recently. They laugh and say, maybe RS is getting ready to sell, but then they wonder who the heck would buy them at this point. This self imposed train wreck is tough to watch happen as our competetive buzzards circle in for the feast. They really wonder how RS can possibly be the leader in pain management with few employees left in the field and no support left at home office. And then they smile as they scoop up the spoils we willing leave behind. In Good to Great, Volume 2, they will write us up under the chapter "What a great company shouldn't do." Very sad.

 

"The other is the fact that management teams that can utilize smart growth in order to keep their workforces intact and running smoothly and productively are an economic boon. I've long believed investors should look at mass layoffs as signs of serious management flaws instead of focusing on a "more profitable" short-term view.

Once we've gotten five years down the road, many of these layoff-happy companies will have likely lost their best talent and terrorized and demoralized their "survivors." Those are dangerous stocks to own, Fools.

Don't let your portfolio go bust; remember that layoffs should be a sign of management weakness, not strength. Invest in the growth-oriented companies that act as economic boosters if you want to foster a growing portfolio." The Motley Fool, Stocks That Boost the Economy, Daily Finance

 

Last two posts are absolutely spot on. Even though this company is attempting to prop-up their product portfolio with new relationships... I predict that within the year, these relationships will be in terrible shape and on the verge, if not already, of collapse. They will learn that their target audience is too small that there isn't even enough boots on the ground to capture the business. Ultimately the loss will be due to a flawed business plan, which they have even now, failed to recognize.

 

I worked for RSM for 16 years and was laid off in April 2011. RSM was a great company to work for until the last 4 to 5 years so at least I had 10 good years. When Rick Terrell stopped running the company things started to decline especially with the hiring of John Konsin. However the decline of RS Medical was (and is) due to changing market conditions more than anything else. From the beginning of the company in 1990 RS Medical's model was to take advantage of price distortions in the medical device marketplace. The entire 3rd party payor system was flawed in that the ultimate consumer (the patient) did not pay for the cost of the product; hence prices that were paid for very inexpensive devices were extremely high. In the early 2000's the internet became more popular and one could find TENS units and other DME devices sold online for less the $100. Many of these devices had more features than RSM products. Yet insurance and Medicare continued to pay exhorbitant prices for these products which is extremely wasteful. Medicare continues to pay $900 for an RSM back brace that can be purchased online from the manufacturer for $65.00!!! And one wonders why (as Pres. Obama admitted in 2009) that Medicare is going bankrupt. This cannot continue and companies like RS Medical will not be able to realize the profits necessary to support a national salesforce driving around in their cars all day. The solution (insofar as health costs are concerened) is to have the patient engage in market activity just like any other product; ie more cash pay. All of the products RSM sells should not require an RX. Dr's. could make recommendations and patients could search online and pay cash. What a concept! If this concept was extended to all medical care true prices would be known and prices would come down due to competition. This happens in all other markets and it works. Health savings accounts, high deductible insurance and knowing what the true cost of a product or service is. Under the current (or a govt run system) this will never happen and costs will continue to skyrocket. But companies based on the RS Medical model will not survive.

 

Rs deserves to not survive, for oh so many reasons.

 

This thread is full of charged emotions and some very valid facts, but all the emotion and facts will not change what is now or what is to come. Management flaws, system flaws, healthcare reform...it all contributes to the decline and demise of what we once loved, which was Rick Terrell's RS Medical. May the postive thinkers and the people reaching for the stars have continued success in the life beyond.

 

Former RS Medical employee here-- the most important post is a few above this one.

RSM exploited a structural problem with Medicare billing for DME-- for a few decades, you could bill a $45 device for $1400. And get paid.

No wonder for a while there we were sending the entire sales force to Mexico, paying lavish bonuses, and building enormous HQ's in Vancouver. The whole thing was an elaborate gig funded by the US taxpayer.

Well, Medicare got a little smarter. Reimbursement rates declined sharply. All of a sudden, it became pretty clear that RSM got where it was not through having an excellent sales force or superior products or an excellent business model-- but stupid, dumb luck combined with a willingness to cheat the government.

Good riddance; I was at RSM for just shy of four years and I saw literally every flavor of incompetence imaginable. They had dozens of people doing work that a semi-decent software package could do with one. Almost all processes were still done on paper. The place was stacked with a thick, thick layer of middle/upper management soaking up six figure salaries to sit in an office and shuffle. The actual project engineering and design departments were a handful of people, ditto quality.

The market works. RSM is a bad company that is noncompetitive. That is deeply unfortunate for the good people who invested their careers there, not to mention the unfairness of millions of taxpayers who overpayed for stim devices for decades.

My last day at RSM was my first step towards a vastly better job. I wish the same for everyone still there.

 

Hey John Konsin , former employee here!
I wanted to say thanks, from the bottom of my rotted heart for the 3 weeks severance pay you gave me. I wish I could say it meant a lot, but it meant nothing and that's what it paid for also, close to nothing. I was going to put it in the bank and "take sometime off to spend with the family" until I realized it was so small I could cash it at the mini mart. Anyway enough about me, hope karma or Jesus catch up with you!

Ps- you and your stupid "severance" can eat shit.