Numotion tightens timeline

HOUSTON - A big goal that came out of Numotion's annual employee meeting in January: “drastically reduce the cycle time to process orders and provide chairs,” says CEO Mike Swinford.

“This is the year we're going to change the game, in terms of turnaround times,” he said. “That's not to say every order is going to happen in record speed, but I think, on average, we can move the needle.”

The meeting, which had the theme “lead,” drew more than 400 ATPs to Houston, 70 of them added to the company roster just last year.

The timeframe for turning around orders has a “huge range,” Swinford says—anywhere from two weeks for a simpler order up to four months for a more complex order that involves, among other things, multiple payers. So it won't be easy.

“It's going to take hard work and collaboration with a lot of partners, including external parties, like referrals and payers,” he said, “and clients, in many cases, who will need to advocate for themselves.”

Swinford says his team cringes when he talks about turnaround times in minutes and hours—versus days and weeks—but their efforts will get a nice boost this year from a new, “more contemporary” operating system.

“It's the backbone of our business,” he said. “It's how we manage everything from the ordering process to claims management with payers. It's what the ATPs use when they start a new evaluation. We've gone through major investments to bring together 49 different companies into one company and one culture.”

Attendees were reminded of why the company's goal might be hard work, but good work, through the meeting's keynote speaker, Steve Gleason, a former football player for the New Orleans Saints who was diagnosed with ALS in 2011 and who is a Numotion customer. For the first time, the company broadcast the keynote live on Facebook, drawing more than 31,000 views by the following week, Swinford says.

“He shared various examples of leadership experiences throughout his life,” he said. “He's raw and edgy, he has an incredible sense of humor, and he's very transparent. It was an incredible message.”