VGM repositions for industry’s ‘growth opportunities’

WATERLOO, Iowa – VGM & Associates has made several high-profile promotions and new hires to shore up its team of experts to help its provider members continue to evolve in the future. 

The company, part of VGM Group, in October promoted Craig Douglas to senior vice president of a new HME, Respiratory and Wellness channel, and Tyler Mahncke to senior vice president of a new Clinical Mobility and Accessibility channel. 

“When we think about how we’re moving forward and what our initiatives are, it’s how can we help guide our members toward growth opportunities,” said Lindy Tentinger, president of VGM & Associates. “There’s this older population that continues to grow, along with multiple disease states. Couple that with the increase in consumerism around health care and the movement of more care to the home. We wanted to let people know that we’re not just respiratory and complex rehab.” 

Rounding out the new channels are solutions and experts in audit, compliance, revenue cycle strategies, market data and education. 

A major part of what Douglas and Mahncke have been charged with is helping to connect the dots for providers between their core businesses and potential new products, technology, outsource solutions and adjacent markets, Tentinger says. 

“It might be a retail product, a wellness product or a home access product – as someone needs something for their quality of life or for their home, we want to show the breadth of our expertise and the membership communities we offer,” she said.  

Assisting Douglas and Mahncke with that work will be a team of existing and new experts. For HME, Respiratory and Wellness, that team includes Dave Lyman, senior vice president of customer success; Boone Lockard, vice president of clinical services; Heather Trumm, partner account manager and wound care clinician; and Nikki Jensen, vice president of wellness. 

“We’ll continue to be focused on looking toward the future to help members get to where they need to be,” Douglas said. “I always looked at that from my payer relations role, but now I can go deeper with our membership on not only, ‘Here’s something that happened; here’s what it says,’ but also, ‘Here’s what it means and here are tools you can use.’” 

For Clinical Mobility and Accessibility, the team includes Nikki Grace, director of the Orthotic and Prosthetic Group of America, and Cindi Petito, director of clinical networks, who both came onboard in October. Complex rehab will remain a big focus of the channel, but Mahncke says he will now spend more time looking at that market from “over the hood, instead of under the hood.” 

“What is complex rehab going to look like in the next three to five years and what do we need to do now so independent providers and manufacturers have the tools they need to thrive in that timeframe,” he said.