PRO2 puts its services on the map

LIMA, Ohio - PRO2 Respiratory Services just opened its eighth location, this one in Lima, Ohio. Other offices include locations in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Louisville, Ky. Each location is locally owned and operated. The company continues to look for new market opportunities. "There's four directions, and at this point I could imagine expanding in any direction," said PRO2 founder Nancy Archdeacon. "We're looking for very talented partners. We don't pick out a geographic market necessarily first." PRO2 specializes in providing clinical respiratory equipment and services to patients, including equipment delivery, service and loaners; instruction for patients and caregivers; travel assistance; and physician follow-up on patient progress and compliance. PRO2 accepts Medicare, Medicaid and private insurances. "We do everything from the very low-tech to the very hi-tech, including life support," said Archdeacon. What sets the company apart from its competitors is a standard of care that uses the expertise of respiratory therapists for all of its clinical patients, she said. Archdeacon is herself a respiratory therapist with 19 years of experience. She started PRO2 in Cincinnati in May 1999, a time when she says others in the industry used a far less clinical approach. "We kind of hit the ground running in Cincinnati with a different model than what had previously been here," said Archdeacon. "Most of our competitors in this area did not include the services of a respiratory therapist in the care of a pulmonary patient. Even a large national company would have one or two respiratory therapists on staff. We have the services of a respiratory therapist to see all of our clinical patients." The company is preparing itself for competitive bidding by maintaining discretionary spending and staying tuned to legislation. Archdeacon said the company is prepared to compete.