eintake

[Anonymous]

Dobbs left to prepare another company ( not Apria ) for he and Carter to run. Watch out mid to upper management positions!

Plausible...

I think Mid-Upper mgmt will be fine even if the execs bail out -unless merged and a different platform is used other than Rotech's. Present levels of management seem much more balanced than in the past. It used to be a lot of renegades under one umbrella, then far too many chiefs for a while. Lots of $$ spent on I.T. and legal lately so it seems unlikely they would knowingly be headed into that type of situation. Grab some popcorn and watch the show.

If this company keeps servicing the enormous debt load it was saddled with after the IHS debacle it will be a helluva comeback.

 

[Anonymous]

Dobbs left to prepare another company ( not Apria ) for he and Carter to run. Watch out mid to upper management positions!

So are you saying he goes and works on this company, then this company merges with Rotech with Carter and Dobbs running the whole thing? Or, are you saying they both bail out of Rotech and jump to this other company and leave Rotech hanging and sinking?

Considering how sales has pretty much been "locked" out of most of the operations side at this point and most reps could not even generate a CMN any longer at this point to save their lives because of the system titled in this thread, I am wondering if there is going to be some type of organizational restructure here soon totally splitting sales off outside of the location and no longer reporting to the LCM? I know nationwide this format has caused many a rep to leave sometimes taking their business with them because they are slowly being pushed to the side in favor of LCMs and operations in general and being minimalized. That does not really go a long way in the morale area for sales and of course sales is what usually drives a company's growth. We saw this last year in the numbers for sales accross the board. Some of that was the economy for sure. Some of it was the massive turnover in sales positions for many different reasons. Some of it I hate to say is also due to the minimizing of the sales role and power in the location and structure. Maybe in the end, a merger will have its own sales force causing them to just get rid of all of the Rotech sales reps or vice versa and the sales will be split off in preparation for a merger so the sales is able to be kept and just rolled into the new company. Only time will tell. But either way, Rotech better get their sales force figured out. They need to put these people in a position so they are able to either run their locations and have power to make decisions in how their location is run(should have been put in overall strategic charge of the location in the first place in my opinion when the last restructure happened)or the position will just end up being a revolving door and Rotech's growth will eventually go down the tubes. Contrary to peoples belief above, solid residual business in this industry comes from reps who have developed relationships and been in their positions for a couple years or more. If you want to keep those people happy, you need to restructure and give them more say in the locations running and operations and not roll up to an LCM but rather an AM. Also, you can train an LCM coming in within maybe 3 months to do the job decently. However, it can sometimes take years to recover a locations business when a rep leaves as well as all their relationships. This was a big issue that has been ignored over the past few years and I think where Rotech made a very big mistake and it came to a head in 2011 in my opinion. Especially since it is VERY hard to build these relationships and take business from competitors when sometimes they have been in their positions for many years. It was very much a slap in the face to most reps when that restructuring change was made putting the LCMs at a superior level instead of a peer level. That and other issues with Eintake this year as well as billing is just compounding this problem in my humble opinion and is going to make the sales force of Rotech implode unless something is done. This subject will be key to Rotech's future unless they have a game plan to merge. Otherwise, they better get this fixed and get it fixed quick because they can not afford to have a year(s) like last year with further turnover in their sales force in 2012 and constant rebuilding of sales territores. And as an FYI, even with non competes it still does not change the fact if the rep leaves to go to a different company in the healthcare industry with different products those relationshps are still ultimately lost. And Rotech has also learned that LCMs in most cases can not pick up relationshp wise where a rep left off to sustain business. This is because there is actually more to sales then just bringing treats and talking to people. You have to actually convince them of some reason of giving you business or doing testing without annoying them at the same time. It is not an easy task for sure as many LCMs with SR who have left have learned through the restructure. Many of them would die to have their old reps back prior to the reorg because many of them were hitting their bonus at that point. Hind sight is 20/20 for sure. What do all of you think about this?

 

[Anonymous]

So are you saying he goes and works on this company, then this company merges with Rotech with Carter and Dobbs running the whole thing? Or, are you saying they both bail out of Rotech and jump to this other company and leave Rotech hanging and sinking?

Considering how sales has pretty much been "locked" out of most of the operations side at this point and most reps could not even generate a CMN any longer at this point to save their lives because of the system titled in this thread, I am wondering if there is going to be some type of organizational restructure here soon totally splitting sales off outside of the location and no longer reporting to the LCM? I know nationwide this format has caused many a rep to leave sometimes taking their business with them because they are slowly being pushed to the side in favor of LCMs and operations in general and being minimalized. That does not really go a long way in the morale area for sales and of course sales is what usually drives a company's growth. We saw this last year in the numbers for sales accross the board. Some of that was the economy for sure. Some of it was the massive turnover in sales positions for many different reasons. Some of it I hate to say is also due to the minimizing of the sales role and power in the location and structure. Maybe in the end, a merger will have its own sales force causing them to just get rid of all of the Rotech sales reps or vice versa and the sales will be split off in preparation for a merger so the sales is able to be kept and just rolled into the new company. Only time will tell. But either way, Rotech better get their sales force figured out. They need to put these people in a position so they are able to either run their locations and have power to make decisions in how their location is run(should have been put in overall strategic charge of the location in the first place in my opinion when the last restructure happened)or the position will just end up being a revolving door and Rotech's growth will eventually go down the tubes. Contrary to peoples belief above, solid residual business in this industry comes from reps who have developed relationships and been in their positions for a couple years or more. If you want to keep those people happy, you need to restructure and give them more say in the locations running and operations and not roll up to an LCM but rather an AM. Also, you can train an LCM coming in within maybe 3 months to do the job decently. However, it can sometimes take years to recover a locations business when a rep leaves as well as all their relationships. This was a big issue that has been ignored over the past few years and I think where Rotech made a very big mistake and it came to a head in 2011 in my opinion. Especially since it is VERY hard to build these relationships and take business from competitors when sometimes they have been in their positions for many years. It was very much a slap in the face to most reps when that restructuring change was made putting the LCMs at a superior level instead of a peer level. That and other issues with Eintake this year as well as billing is just compounding this problem in my humble opinion and is going to make the sales force of Rotech implode unless something is done. This subject will be key to Rotech's future unless they have a game plan to merge. Otherwise, they better get this fixed and get it fixed quick because they can not afford to have a year(s) like last year with further turnover in their sales force in 2012 and constant rebuilding of sales territores. And as an FYI, even with non competes it still does not change the fact if the rep leaves to go to a different company in the healthcare industry with different products those relationshps are still ultimately lost. And Rotech has also learned that LCMs in most cases can not pick up relationshp wise where a rep left off to sustain business. This is because there is actually more to sales then just bringing treats and talking to people. You have to actually convince them of some reason of giving you business or doing testing without annoying them at the same time. It is not an easy task for sure as many LCMs with SR who have left have learned through the restructure. Many of them would die to have their old reps back prior to the reorg because many of them were hitting their bonus at that point. Hind sight is 20/20 for sure. What do all of you think about this?

I think you need to learn about a new literary tool called a "paragragh".

I also disagree with your thoughts on the structure and reporting. If you have a good operation the Sales Rep can just go sell. Last I checked there was not any physicians in the location so the SR needs to be out selling and not problem solving operational bullcrap.

The sales bonus structure is lucrative and has far more potential than ops so who gives a damn if the LCM is considered the supervisor when the money trail is the real story. You sound like an ego driven whipped puppy. I do recognize that some location managers are weak and some may power trip but this is the real world and that is the responsibility of the AM to properly develop and hire talent.

 

[Anonymous]

What if you have a weak LCM and a weak AM? I've been two years at Rotech and i just broke my biggest account yet. I had 11 overnight oximeter orders this past week alone!

You know how much time I spent in the field this week? 3 afternoons. That's it. I was working the entire oximeter process from start to finish in the office! The only other person that even knows how to do this is my LCM and she's way to busy.

I don't want to piss off my new account so I'm doing a lot of hand holding. I don't mind this short term but if getting more business is going to require me to micromanage the location because I don't trust they can get the job done, I'll be long gone soon. I've already been having to do that with another large account. I just don't trust my team and this is with good reason over things they have screwed up this last year.

I really would hate to leave. I can see there is huge potential in my area. But the level of frustration i have from the operations side sometimes makes this not worth it. And I don't give a shit about my non-compete. I'll take all my relationships to a competitor. Consistent incompetence in management and being chronically short staffed make whatever I signed null and void as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Anonymous]

What if you have a weak LCM and a weak AM? I've been two years at Rotech and i just broke my biggest account yet. I had 11 overnight oximeter orders this past week alone!

You know how much time I spent in the field this week? 3 afternoons. That's it. I was working the entire oximeter process from start to finish in the office! The only other person that even knows how to do this is my LCM and she's way to busy.

I don't want to piss off my new account so I'm doing a lot of hand holding. I don't mind this short term but if getting more business is going to require me to micromanage the location because I don't trust they can get the job done, I'll be long gone soon. I've already been having to do that with another large account. I just don't trust my team and this is with good reason over things they have screwed up this last year.

I really would hate to leave. I can see there is huge potential in my area. But the level of frustration i have from the operations side sometimes makes this not worth it. And I don't give a shit about my non-compete. I'll take all my relationships to a competitor. Consistent incompetence in management and being chronically short staffed make whatever I signed null and void as far as I'm concerned.

And of course this comes down to what the poster above was saying. Lack of control over any of the ops side as a rep puts you in a position if you get a lot of business you either do it yourself or you do not grow. Plain and simple. Unless you have a very sales focused LCM, which is rare, you will find all of your sales stuff gets put on the back burner because as a rep you have pretty much ZERO control over ops and discipline and direction. I wish you the best, but as your business grows you will more then likely work yourself in to an 80 hour a week job doing it all on your own. If you had control, then you could delegate much of this to PSTs or other members of the staff to coordinate and deliver. They may not like it, including the LCM, but then your growth would not be thwarted. It is almost like it puts a rep in an envoronment where it is counterproductive to them outside of anything financial work wise to actually grow a location in a big way! That is not healthy or good for any company period.

 

[Anonymous]

I think you need to learn about a new literary tool called a "paragragh".

I also disagree with your thoughts on the structure and reporting. If you have a good operation the Sales Rep can just go sell. Last I checked there was not any physicians in the location so the SR needs to be out selling and not problem solving operational bullcrap.

The sales bonus structure is lucrative and has far more potential than ops so who gives a damn if the LCM is considered the supervisor when the money trail is the real story. You sound like an ego driven whipped puppy. I do recognize that some location managers are weak and some may power trip but this is the real world and that is the responsibility of the AM to properly develop and hire talent.

In your arrogant response I think you missed the whole point of the post. Especially pointing out as the very first response writen paragraph separation on a message board!LOL That says it all about your ego. The poster was saying that sales and marketing should be in charge of the general direction of the location and be able to change that direction if need be. The poster was not saying that sales should run the day to day ops side. That would not make sense. But if sales and ops disagree on the running of anything in the location and how oximetries are delivered or anything else for that matter, ops will always win because the LCM is in charge. That is not good for growth in a company. And if a sales rep is constantly going to an AM to get things changed then it will cause massive friction between an LCM and sales considering the LCM IS the sr boss. You have no idea what you are talking about structure wise in an organization or you would see the weakness here and have understood that the poster was not implying they thought sales should run the day to day ops of the location. Not hard to see their point.

 

[Anonymous]

In your arrogant response I think you missed the whole point of the post. Especially pointing out as the very first response writen paragraph separation on a message board!LOL That says it all about your ego. The poster was saying that sales and marketing should be in charge of the general direction of the location and be able to change that direction if need be. The poster was not saying that sales should run the day to day ops side. That would not make sense. But if sales and ops disagree on the running of anything in the location and how oximetries are delivered or anything else for that matter, ops will always win because the LCM is in charge. That is not good for growth in a company. And if a sales rep is constantly going to an AM to get things changed then it will cause massive friction between an LCM and sales considering the LCM IS the sr boss. You have no idea what you are talking about structure wise in an organization or you would see the weakness here and have understood that the poster was not implying they thought sales should run the day to day ops of the location. Not hard to see their point.

Perhaps I was too harsh but that run on paragraph was a pain in the ass to read.

The response from the SR not getting help for oximetry selling and delivery was the kind of thing that I was talking about. Screw the friction. I do understand the structure. The DVP down depend on points and the oximetry is one of the vehicles used to get there. The SR who is bringing business will win over an ops supervisor in a pissing contest. You are naive to think otherwise. If you are bringing that many tests and the LCM and AM are not supporting you after asking nicely you go up the chain. It is OK to help out and even offer to drop off an oximeter if things are running crazy but you do not need to be managing the process. That is dysfunctional.

It is simple but you must document everything to cover your butt. Email the LCM that you are worried that that she is too busy and that you can't stay at the location to do it. If that does not get the desired response email the same message to the AM cc'd to the LCM that your LCM is getting hammered at the op and needs some help getting oximeters out. If that does not work email the RM and cc the AM and LCM that your location needs help blah blah blah. If you word it delicately it will give the LCM enough wiggle room not to be spanked but it will get everybodies attention. The next step would be Jackie and she would not be amused by an SR who had to go 4 levels up the chain to get help for one of her top Sales Agendas. If you do this once that chain will know they have to pull their weight or they will be called out for it. This is not unique to Rotech- I promise.

It is a damn shame that all LCM are not Sales Focused. I get that locations get bombed with new directions and miscellaneous BS every day but c'mon... To the rep with all the oximetry and no help- I sincerely hope that you get that fixed. You sound like a Rep Rotech needs to keep. Good luck!

In defense of the ops side the decision to axe the RT's and run the locations so lean is why so many locations can't function. Unfortunately, as a Sales Rep you can't let them off the hook for not getting it done.

 

[Anonymous]

Perhaps I was too harsh but that run on paragraph was a pain in the ass to read.

The response from the SR not getting help for oximetry selling and delivery was the kind of thing that I was talking about. Screw the friction. I do understand the structure. The DVP down depend on points and the oximetry is one of the vehicles used to get there. The SR who is bringing business will win over an ops supervisor in a pissing contest. You are naive to think otherwise. If you are bringing that many tests and the LCM and AM are not supporting you after asking nicely you go up the chain. It is OK to help out and even offer to drop off an oximeter if things are running crazy but you do not need to be managing the process. That is dysfunctional.

It is simple but you must document everything to cover your butt. Email the LCM that you are worried that that she is too busy and that you can't stay at the location to do it. If that does not get the desired response email the same message to the AM cc'd to the LCM that your LCM is getting hammered at the op and needs some help getting oximeters out. If that does not work email the RM and cc the AM and LCM that your location needs help blah blah blah. If you word it delicately it will give the LCM enough wiggle room not to be spanked but it will get everybodies attention. The next step would be Jackie and she would not be amused by an SR who had to go 4 levels up the chain to get help for one of her top Sales Agendas. If you do this once that chain will know they have to pull their weight or they will be called out for it. This is not unique to Rotech- I promise.

It is a damn shame that all LCM are not Sales Focused. I get that locations get bombed with new directions and miscellaneous BS every day but c'mon... To the rep with all the oximetry and no help- I sincerely hope that you get that fixed. You sound like a Rep Rotech needs to keep. Good luck!

In defense of the ops side the decision to axe the RT's and run the locations so lean is why so many locations can't function. Unfortunately, as a Sales Rep you can't let them off the hook for not getting it done.

Everything you say about "taking it up the food chain" is true in a perfect world but you do what you outline ONCE and you mise well leave. That "pissing" match you speak of would be a pissing match between a direct supervisor and their subordinate which is never a good thing. Especially since that direct supervisor has the ability to make the SR life a living hell or very easy based on how they approach their management duties. The LCM is the one you have to work with day in and day out and can make or break a sales rep no matter what an AM or RM says or does. Either way, the bridge will be burned getting your LCM over rulled and in trouble in any way just one time. You are really the naive one when you think you can do this and not pretty much put a target on your back from an LCM who will then do whatever they can to get rid of you. That is life and the reality of a company that has 450 sattelite locations spread out nationally.

Basically if the structure was as the first poster on the subject said there would be no need to do any of what you said up the food chain. Plus, since the LCM knows so much more about the ops side most reps if in that position of authority would pretty much leave them alone to do and make decisions on that end. It would be a win win. I understand what you are talking about and the whole process of documentation and moving stuff up the food chain. But in a company as far flung as Rotech with 450 generally under staffed locations it is very unrealistic. Plus, Rotech should be guarding their sales over ops not because ops is not important. They should be doing it because ultimately it is easier to replace a good LCM then it is to replace a good sales rep. Either way, the more of a revolving door there is in either position the less stability and growth Rotech will have. That is a plain and simple fact. I think we would both agree on this.

 

[Anonymous]

THANK YOU....while it is a pain to have various tickets for each group of supplies that some customers may get...e.g. Trach, Urinary, PAP and etc and maybe that is just a "little kink" that will work itself out.

Not only can they go back and refresh w/the trainings, they can go onto the interweb for Rotech and PRINT out the info for all the basics too. Stop whining people and accept it.

What I don't understand is why these people are whining so much..if they went to a new job they would need to learn the computer system at McDonalds right !!! LOL

That is where they will be too since they do not embrace change in any manner

Why do you think they implemented e-intake? - To actually make it 'easier' on the employees in the location? I'd say RIFs are coming big time. Think about it...

 

[Anonymous]

Re: eintake can't change anything

CSR's in my location can't change anything because it was sent by the VA that way (Laziness). I finally got a D change to a B so the name of the city was correct after three years. Is this the way all location operate?

When is this company going to get with the times a start using barcoding for tanks and using a system like UPS for tickets and patient information. One signature and all the forms are filled out and downloaded. I can go on and on with all the stupid stuff this company does.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: eintake can't change anything

CSR's in my location can't change anything because it was sent by the VA that way (Laziness). I finally got a D change to a B so the name of the city was correct after three years. Is this the way all location operate?

When is this company going to get with the times a start using barcoding for tanks and using a system like UPS for tickets and patient information. One signature and all the forms are filled out and downloaded. I can go on and on with all the stupid stuff this company does.

Because the higher up's are to busy buying vacation homes and lining their pockets. This includes the RM's too and all those excessive VP's.

If they would barcode EVERYTHING that comes into a location it would have stopped a lot of theft at a couple of locations.

Think how smooth inventory would be and could easily be done remote if barcode would be a system inside Rotech...THAT would save them money from the fake OT being charged the company for employees that are staying after hours to do the count. Everyone knows the bulk have already done it and well, it would be a time saver let alone a money one.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: eintake can't change anything

Because the higher up's are to busy buying vacation homes and lining their pockets. This includes the RM's too and all those excessive VP's.

If they would barcode EVERYTHING that comes into a location it would have stopped a lot of theft at a couple of locations.

Think how smooth inventory would be and could easily be done remote if barcode would be a system inside Rotech...THAT would save them money from the fake OT being charged the company for employees that are staying after hours to do the count. Everyone knows the bulk have already done it and well, it would be a time saver let alone a money one.

No one seems to get that any owner/manager worth their salt never ordered more inventory than they needed BEFORE Rotech purchased them, nor would they be inclined to overstock AFTER.
To burden the LCM with all the nonsense tasks (including micro managing inventory for corporate) is where the problems start. The LCM should have their time free to GROW the branch in any way possible.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: eintake can't change anything

No one seems to get that any owner/manager worth their salt never ordered more inventory than they needed BEFORE Rotech purchased them, nor would they be inclined to overstock AFTER.
To burden the LCM with all the nonsense tasks (including micro managing inventory for corporate) is where the problems start. The LCM should have their time free to GROW the branch in any way possible.

You must work at a Rotech location that does not have an LCM scraped from the bottom of the barrel then. Lucky you. One that is a REAL manager who knows the basics of business. To bad Rotech has very few of those across Rotech land.

Some of us have only seen the idiot ones who order the wrong thing all the time because they never took the time to learn the system. Instead of learning from their mistakes in their rush to do everything, they don't even take the time to return the items because they state it's just to much time and effort to do it.

And out to the garbage can the stuff goes. Taking off the bottom line.

Oh and no they don't even check to see if another location could use the items.

Doesn't matter if you try and talk to them, their AM they are covered for over and over. Speak up and your life in the location because even worse. Not all areas have jobs to pick off that special tree.

Rotech really needs to clean house starting at the level above the locations.

 

[Anonymous]

a oximetry especially for Medicare/Medicaid must be uploaded to a independent IDTF and the IDTF must send results to physician or or it cannot be used to qualify a patient for oxygen. So all the sales rep should be doing is uploading the oximeter to a IDTF which takes five seconds. Once a face to face visit discussing the need for o2 occurs and is documented with copy sent with order, then pt can be set up. face to face must occur within 30 days of order. So I dont see why sales rep would be in office all day uploading oximetrys.

 

[Anonymous]

a oximetry especially for Medicare/Medicaid must be uploaded to a independent IDTF and the IDTF must send results to physician or or it cannot be used to qualify a patient for oxygen. So all the sales rep should be doing is uploading the oximeter to a IDTF which takes five seconds. Once a face to face visit discussing the need for o2 occurs and is documented with copy sent with order, then pt can be set up. face to face must occur within 30 days of order. So I dont see why sales rep would be in office all day uploading oximetrys.

It's one way an LCM can "cover" for that SR who is not making their mark. Or a way for the SR to build up a story to tell at their weekly meetings that the office staff is not capable of doing the job so how can they go out and sell...sell....sell when they have to cover for the location.

And before any whines that it couldn't happen, it does.

Every inch of that slippery pole an LCM climbs to cover for a SR or any employee not pulling their weight ...the faster they will be sliding down and put their own job on the line.

 

[Anonymous]

Sales Reps uploading oximters?...Haaa Haaa Haaa Haaa...Might break a nail