McKesson appoints new HME lead

RICHMOND, Va. - If McKesson plans to beat the same drum at Medtrade this year, touting the advantages of its Supply Management Online ordering system and its Patient Home Delivery (PHD) drop-shipping program, the person with the drumstick in hand will have a new face. Over the summer, McKesson pulled Gary Keeler into its upper eschelons and promoted Carol A. Muratore as president of Extended Care Sales for McKesson Medical-Surgical. Extended Care splits its focus between HMEs and HHAs, with about 70% of its business on the HME side. Of that business, McKesson is moving some of what Muratore describes as "light DME" but mostly supplies. About half its HME business is routed through PHD. Muratore isn't likely to shake things up at Extended Care. She worked for Keeler at Extended Care for seven years, and still reports to him. She also believes there's a solid base to work from. But she has taken one out-of-gate step in the company's organizational hierachy to provide more focus on home care. In the past, the company's home care account managers reported up to three home care region managers, who in turn reported up to three sales vice presidents. But since those vice presidents also handled long-term care, a healthcare segment that might easily overwhelm home care, Muratore created a new position - national director of home care - to help keep their eyes on the homecare ball. "Although we [McKesson] are the leader in nursing homes, we see our real growth in home care," said Muratore. "We've had annual growth rates of about 30%." HME