Home Care Medical regains edge

NEW BERLIN, Wis.--Provider John Teevan knew that if Home Care Medical wanted to keep up with the demands of the HME industry, the company needed an overhaul.

“You have to be able to work more efficiently, think more clearly and react more quickly,” said Teevan, president. “The structure we had didn't allow those to flourish. We were mired in our own bureaucracy.”

Teevan and three others took the old structure - “a pile of spaghetti” - and pulled it apart strand by strand.

The result: a company reorganized into four teams, each with its own vice president. The demand team consists of internal and external sales and marketing; the supply team combines operations and finance personnel who cover everything from product purchasing and warehousing to billing and collections; the clinical team; and the support team, which includes the IT and HR departments. The vice presidents form part of an executive council along with Teevan. The council is responsible for the company's overall organizational leadership and strategic planning.

“We had allowed ourselves to mix up day-to-day operations with management and leadership duties, and we were losing our edge,” he said. “The demand team, for example, is clearly focused on creating demand.”

The reorganization has been in the works since the second quarter of 2007. Home Care received some guidance from a consulting firm, but it was mainly Teevan's own idea of what the company needed that guided the process.

When Teevan nervously unveiled the new company structure to 150 employees at a recent company meeting, it took about 15 seconds for a reaction.

“They all began applauding,” he said. “They said it was about time.”