ELYRIA, Ohio — A. Malachi Mixon III, chairman and chief executive of Invacare Corp., feels blessed that his company has side-stepped the world financial and economic crises.
Invacare makes products like portable oxygen systems and wheelchairs – things many people need to take care of their health at home. “These aren’t discretionary kinds of products,” Mixon said during a telephone interview following the announcement of his c0mpany’s first showing in the Fortune 1000 list of largest companies since 2006. Invacare squeaked in at No. 983 in this year’s list.
It’s Mixon’s 30th year running the company, which in 1979 had sales of $19 million and in 2008, $1.75 billion. Mixon assumes Invacare made this year’s Fortune magazine list of top companies because the company has “had some pretty steady growth,” unlike many other companies embroiled in the economic crisis.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Mixon, an inveterate entrepreneur who cares about hospital management (he’s chairman of the trustee board at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation) and the development of young musicians (he’s also chairman of the Cleveland Institute of Music’s trustee board) talked about his company’s 2008 financial results and a recent trip to Washington, D.C.,
Q. What did you tell shareholders about last year during their annual meeting a couple of weeks ago?
A. Well, it was a good solid year for us. We met the [Wall] Street estimate. I think we were one of the few companies that did. We also told them that we expected to have improved earnings in ’09 over ’08. There aren’t many companies talking like that.
Q. Are things settling down on the health care regulatory front? Your company led a fight last year against a controversial competitive bidding process for durable medical equipment that Congress eventually set aside.
A. We’re still dealing with regulatory issues. This competitive bidding thing, I think we’re making some progress. [The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] announced that they will redo those 10 test sites (which includes Cleveland and Cincinnati in Ohio). They’ll call for bids in the fall of this year, but they won’t implement it until January 2011.
So, that’s quite a ways out, and it gives us a lot of time to continue talking with the new administration. We’re hopeful that they will make meaningful modifications to make it a viable program or cancel it altogether, so we’re much more optimistic.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Q. What do you think all the discussion in Washington about health care reform means to home health care?
A. I was invited by Nancy-Ann DeParle (director of the White House Office of Health Reform) … to the White House a month ago. I was there on behalf of home care, and I got to speak for about five minutes. And I said that every person’s dream is to go home from the hospital, go home from the nursing home. They want to be home. … There were a lot of nods around the table.
Q. Did you tell the folks in Washington about how you think home health care can be a solution in the reform equation?
A. Home care is really the trifecta of health care. It’s patient preferred. The options are much better at home because you’re not exposed to all the pathogens … in the institutional setting. And lastly, it’s much more cost-effective.
[President] Obama has been talking about three things: access, quality and cost. Clearly, one of the ways to provide cost-effective health care is to allow people to seek primary care physicians and go home.
Q. Do you think you got your message across?
A. Who knows? It’s a jump ball right now… You know, our little industry’s just 2 percent of Medicare, so … we’re a solution, we’re not a problem, in terms of cost.
Q. What do you think about the proposal for a government-backed health insurance plan?
A. I believe in the free market. But I think there are people who … aren’t faring well under capitalism. I think Americans feel that no one should be left out.
Q. How might a government health-care plan affect Invacare?
A. Invacare does business in 80 countries. Canada and England are government-run health care systems. We do very, very well well in those countries. And the home-care reimbursement [there] in many cases is better than they have in America.
Q. What are the long-term prospects of home health care?
A. I’m very optimistic that as time goes on, home care is going to explode. It’s going to be a huge industry. We have the Baby Boomers coming on. People have to be somewhere for their health care –at home or in an institution. I think when people finally get some common sense about this, they’ll say, “If we can keep people out of the expensive environments, then we’re a lot better off.”
[Feature photo: Invacare’s HomeFill home oxygen concentration and compression system]
