Keeping Pace with new CEO at MedBridge

Throughout his long healthcare career, Ghentry Pace has seen the direct correlation between quality patient care and strong financial performance. In his new role as CEO of MedBridge Healthcare, Pace says he's committed to building upon the provider's foundation of patient care.

HME News: What made you want to work for MedBridge?

Ghentry Pace: A few years ago I worked with MedBridge in a consulting role. I got a good understanding of the their focus on quality patient care and good outcomes this team has from the front line to leadership. The culture is all about caring for the patient. You can teach people to work hard, but you can't teach people to care.

HME: Do you believe the health care community is realizing the importance of treating sleep disorders?

Pace: Sleep is a buzzword in the industry but I don't think it's gotten the focus that it really needs. If you've got patients that are already struggling with chronic disease, and they've got a sleep disorder that hasn't been treated appropriately,  their overall health is going to be diminished. You are creating huge costs to employers, to insurers and creating a huge resource draw from the healthcare community. If you can help mitigate the impact of those chronic diseases, everybody wins.

HME: Can you talk about the platform MedBridge is building upon?

Pace: MedBridge has a very comprehensive program. We track and trend patients and compliance aggressively, and our outcomes are significantly better than the published industry averages.

HME: With the reimbursement hits the industry has taken in recent years, many providers are cutting costs, but MedBridge has taken the opposite tack.

Pace: Competitive bidding has been very challenging for this industry.  We want to minimize the impact that has had on our business, but leverage our scope and scale to bring new customers into our view. At MedBridge, ensuring the patient outcome gives us a great foundation to build upon. Cutting costs works in the short term, but it will always come back to bite you in the end.