I recently relocated from California to Iowa (a.k.a. never-ending cornfields!).  Part of the move has been a transition from VP of Corporate Operations for the company to now overseeing all implementations of new contracts.

This means whether we are building a new center for your hospital or transitioning an existing program, I manage the process.

Since taking over the role, I’ve noticed some trends in the programs we transition. This post is meant to highlight the differences in our approach that may work better for your program.

So…what does it mean to transition your management contract to Wound Care Advantage?  How does WCA differentiate ourselves in a highly competitive market to be the best partner?

1.    It means the people working in your center are your employees.

I have seen this scenario over and over again. We take over the managerial aspects of a program and we watch -- helpless -- as employees of the previous company with noncompete agreements shed tears as they exit. I understand the business side of hamstringing nurses and program directors with noncompetes, but ethically I just disagree: How can a company claim to put patient care first and then pull out half the staff of an outpatient department when they leave?

With WCA, your people are employees of the hospital, not a management company that may have different interests and objectives.

2.    It means your physicians determine patient care.

I’ll never forget an interaction I had with a physician during one of the first implementations I conducted. He walked into the room, straight over to me, and threw rolled up pieces of paper onto my lunch plate. “Are you going to order me how to practice medicine, too?” he said angrily. Once I wiped the pasta sauce off of the documents, I realized he had thrown algorithms and clinical practice guidelines from the previous company onto my chicken parmesan.

With WCA, your physicians choose how they practice medicine and we guide and oversee as a partner, not as a dictator. We provide treatment plans based on the Wound Healing Society guidelines, and your physicians determine the best pathways for the individual patients they treat.

3.    It means you get a partner that works with you, not at you.

When you have a management company that constantly tells you what to do or else, you start to lose the confidence and ability to think critically and trust your own judgement. Slowly, over time, the battles aren’t worth the fight, and you either acquiesce or walk away. I’ve seen it time and time again when we transition management companies. People are simply tired of fighting.

But then something happens. When we present our services and our model (e.g. Hospitals should control their own destiny) hope is restored to people in the program. We walk alongside our partners to build a program where local staff and physicians have the freedom to treat patients as they see fit. We bring our expertise to the table to guide things like documentation, clinic flow, training and education believing that when you put patient care first, everybody wins.

With WCA, you get a partner that literally sits down next to you to help you build a program that is successful in the way that you define success for your hospital and community. And we are humble enough to realize that what works in California is different than what works in Iowa!

If you are unhappy with your current management company and open to transitioning to Wound Care Advantage, I’d love to talk with you about your community and how our services can help.