10 Nov Welcoming new Senior Account Executive Michael Roseberry
Link-age is pleased to announce that Michael Roseberry has joined Link-age Solutions as Senior Account Executive. Michael will team with Jason Bright and Mike Fisher to bring new members to Link-age and provide account management services to existing members.
Learn more about Michael in this Q&A.
Q: How did your past professional experiences prepare you for this new role with Link-age?
A: In 1992 I graduated from college and moved from my small hometown in Appalachia to Tempe, Arizona; simply because I had a buddy who was transferring to ASU. With only $2,000 cash in my pocket, borrowed from an older brother, I knew that I needed income quick as I did not want to have to move back home with my tail between my legs. I also wanted to balance the need for income with the need to be able to interview for my “Career”. To meet both needs I started working for a temporary agency doing various jobs, the last one being a warehouse position with a small medical supply distributor pulling orders for physician practices. That small company was soon acquired by a much larger organization, and I was accepted into their Operations Leadership Program. To become an Operation Leader running a distribution center you were required to have direct experience working in all aspect of the business from purchasing to warehousing and customer service to collections. I loved the medical supply business and was hooked!
After about 7 years I wanted to make a transition from operations to sales, so I left healthcare for 2 ½ years to gain experience with a plan to return. My reentry to healthcare was in a consultative sales role with a large, national medical supply distributor servicing Post-Acute Care facilities, Home care, Hospice and Durable Medical Equipment providers. I absolutely loved this role as it allowed me to listen to the issues my customers were experiencing, share my knowledge, mentor, and hopefully help find resolution for some of their issues. This role also gave me personal joy knowing that I was having a direct, positive impact on the patients, residents, and clients that my customers served!
After 10 years with the medical supply distributor, it was time for another change and my next journey in healthcare was 8 ½ years with a Group Purchasing Organization servicing both acute and post-acute care organizations. In this role I was provided with opportunity to broaden the positive impact I could have on my Member’s operations and the patients that they serve; beyond just medical supplies.
So how has my past professional experiences prepared me for this new role with Link-age? Physically having my hands on products in the warehouse, dealing with missing delivery trucks, flooded buildings, power outages, supply chain disruptions, hundreds of wound care/incontinence/diabetic/hand hygiene in services, simply listening to the challenges of clinicians and patients. All those real-life experiences over the past 25+ years has provided me the opportunity to truly get to know and understand the challenges faced by healthcare providers on a daily basis.
Q: What motivates you to want to be successful in keeping senior living organizations supplied, informed, and positioned for success?
A: With over 25 years of healthcare experience, I have seen for myself the unsurmountable challenges faced by senior living organizations and yet somehow, they still get the job done! I have seen nurse aides, which are often financially just making it by themselves, go to their local dollar store to buy nice smelling lotion for their residents so that they will look and smell good for when their family visits. I have spoken with Directors of Nursing that get a little teary eyed when talking about a certain resident’s family that never visits. I have watched the government hand out money to hospitals and physician practices to help improve patient care while seemingly turning a blind eye to the senior living organizations that care for our most vulnerable. I am motivated by the fact that I know I can have a positive impact on the operations of senior living organizations, the quality of life for their staff and ultimately the residents they serve! I always keep in the forefront of my mind; “How will this impact the resident?”
Q: What were some lessons learned during the pandemic? What are some opportunities you see for Link-age and Link-age members in the future?
A: I learned many, many lessons during the pandemic. We were all dealing with PPE sourcing issues and had to do a lot of outside the box thinking. Working for a GPO at that time I obviously did not have supplies that I could physically deliver, outside of the couple of boxes of N95 masks in my garage from previous job, but what I did have was a network of contacts and the backing of my company to make connections for my Members to potential resources. My Ambulatory Surgery Center members were shut down for months and I had solutions they could start deploying in their downtime to improve operational efficiency and help offset some of the price increases they were no doubt going to experience.
I could cite numerous lessons learned, but the most import that we as a family learned firsthand was about the rapid physical and mental degeneration of a loved one from the forced isolation. It was a truly heart-breaking lesson! Some senior living organizations were ill prepared with resources to help keep their residents engaged. In just my first few days with Link-age I’m starting to learn about the transformational resident engagement solutions that Link-age has specifically sought out for their Membership and could not be more excited about the prospect of introducing these solutions to our members!
Q: How do you see technology impacting the senior living industry in the coming years?
A: I see technology playing a much bigger role in telemedicine, resident engagement, employee satisfaction and improving on operational efficiencies. Some residents will not have to be loaded into vans and transported to routine doctor visits. Residents will be able to engage in virtual reality tours of places they have always wanted to visit and more easily connect with friends and family around the globe. Mundane, routine tasks that are being performed by staff over and over and over again will be automated freeing up time to take on more enjoyable projects. Automation will also help organizations reduce denials, expedite reimbursement, and improve cash flow. Just to name a few!
Q: What are some of your goals for this new role with Link-age?
A: Simple… I want to become a trusted and invaluable resource for our Link-age Members and the residents they serve.
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Michael can be reached at mroseberry@linkageconnect.com.
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