Making a Positive Change within Healthcare
AI-Generated Transcript below. There may be errors.
Claire Davis 0:00
And welcome back to another episode of today's medical sales leader and I have somebody special with me here today. But my first question is this. How does combining the world of medicine, business and innovation enable us to make a bigger impact on healthcare and a positive change? I might add. So today I brought the expert on just that today. Dr. Keith Matheny. Yes, you are. So today, as everybody knows, if you're joining us for the first time, welcome, we're so glad to have you. On today's medical sales leader, we dive into the world of medical sales and bring you insights, stories and strategies from today's industry leaders. I'm your host, Claire Davis. And in each episode, we're going to explore the dynamic landscape of medical sales and uncover the latest trends, innovation and best practices that drive success from all angles. So today, I brought in Keith, because we have interesting combination here. So we've got someone who is an exceptional, Vanderbilt trained auto laryngologist with a passion for patient care, and serial business owner. So I'm really excited to have you here. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Keith Matheny 1:21
Thank you, Claire. I'm excited to be here. Awesome.
Claire Davis 1:23
So if I can introduce you really quickly. For anybody who doesn't know Dr. Matheny. He's got an incredible medical practice out in North Dallas. He specializes in Rhinology and sleep and leaves a profound impact on lives. But his journey does not end there. An early adopter of cutting edge technologies and an inventor of groundbreaking medical devices. He's already founded two device companies, septum solutions, and make sure I'm saying this correctly.
Keith Matheny 1:52
By the way, we say logic solutions, we say oh to logic, but who knows, to me logic solutions.
Claire Davis 1:54
That's why I bring the experts, you're keeping me sharp. And he's really revolutionising the en ti industry. So we're going to talk about that a little bit later today, because he not only is helping patients, but also providers in the industry thrive as a whole. He's the founder and chairman and CEO of us EMC partners, and he's pioneering a unique group purchasing organization, bringing significant cost savings to end physicians nationwide by ensuring top notch efficiency. So beyond these medical ventures, he co founded sleep vigil, leading the charge and remote patient monitoring for sleep apnea care and creating new revenue streams for medical practices, as well as a jewelry company. So your impact extends to your community. I know you do a ton of volunteer work, you're always active on LinkedIn. So my question for you is how do you find the time to lead all of these industry changing initiatives?
Keith Matheny 2:51
Well, it's it's busy, admittedly clear, but the short answer is, I could not do any of these things without great teammates, in every aspect you list. That's, that's where it starts and ends. Really?
Claire Davis 3:05
Yeah, yeah, that's it's incredible. We were just talking off camera about, you know, not just incredible teams, we have to that we surround ourselves with, I know you've had a lot of experience hiring and building teams, but also families too. So I'm really grateful to have you here today. And chiefly, the first thing that drew me to you was we had a conversation once. And I think the theme was, Why in the world, isn't there a business class or business like classes for our physicians when they're training? And that's something that I've seen you develop, you know, you've got this real keen eye for opportunity? So my first question really is when you're assessing different opportunities that you want to get involved in? How do you decide which one you're going to go after? And what is the overall reason for pursuing those specific opportunities in the first place?
Keith Matheny 3:59
That's a great question. It's a great way to ask that, you know, I'm at this point in my career, where I am blessed with a lot of opportunities. And the more I learn, and the more I experienced, the more opportunity I see. But what I've learned in my old age is everyone has limited bandwidth, even if you have a lot of bandwidth, it's not unlimited. And so everybody, including yourself is best served saying no to a lot of things in really being wise in what you choose to put your energy into. So for me, I guess my my guiding light my mission statement is what can really help my colleagues in the end the your nose and throat space, and what can really helped my patients have better outcomes. So when I talk about my colleagues, I think about them from a business standpoint, really. You're no wasn't throat and really most physicians, it's a given that they're passionate about patient care. But even though we go to school until our mid 30s, in almost every cases, and that's if you go straight through, many people now go back into health care professions later in life. So they're even further along, but have no business training. So, literally, I did school twice, so kindergarten through 12th. And then another 13 years after that before I was unleashed on my practice, and I never had three semester hours of business 101. And then all of a sudden, were unleashed on these multimillion dollar businesses. And as one might expect, they're not run very well. Typically, we as the physicians delegate, those business management decisions to staff members that have been around the block for 10 or 20 years. And while they may know some things, they also were trained in healthcare, and not necessarily in business. And so many of my colleagues, especially now with the economic factors, I'm sure we'll talk more about that in a second. We just don't have the margin for error to run bad businesses. So when I think about opportunities, what I find myself choosing time and time again, and even some companies that I have on the drawing board for the future, it really centers around that is how can I help my colleagues focus on patient care, which is what they want to do, by helping them run better businesses behind the scenes, taking that off their plate?
Claire Davis 6:37
Yeah, I think one thing I heard you say once was that you're you have this mission, which I think a lot of people are drawn to, especially in this specific field, because you want to make otolaryngology the best specialty from every angle. So can you break open what those different angles are? And what that really means to you?
Speaker 2 6:58
Yeah, sure. So first and foremost, I want our specialty to be the best from a patient care standpoint. So, you know, the devices and technologies that I've invented, or, you know, helped invent with colleagues, or other things that I study and test in help other people bring to market, I want them to result in the best possible patient outcomes. So first and foremost is patient outcomes. Then very close second, as I mentioned a second ago, though, is I want my colleagues, I want the providers to view their own specialty as the best in medicine. And what I mean by that is a specialty that they enjoy practicing, where they have a myriad of tools at their fingertips, to help patients have good outcomes to cure diseases, or to at least improve quality of life. And while they're doing so to make a good living economically, so I'm talking about income here, and also in a reasonable amount of time. So they have plenty of time outside of practicing medicine, for their family, for their hobbies for their own personal renewal. But then it's even beyond the the patient and the provider, right. So I obviously I'm very friendly with industry. So I want the medical device and the pharmaceutical in the technology companies to be just as successful in this space too. Meaning, because of a partnership with these providers, we're able to constantly innovate and improve what we're treating or bringing to patients for their better outcomes. So those companies are also successful. Even the the dreaded insurance companies, the third party payers that usually are the butt of all the jokes. I want our specialty to be the best from their perspective, meaning the dollars that they spend on services rendered by otolaryngologist on their patients yield good outcomes, and they minimize complications or more serious diseases down the road. We care for so many serious things like obstructive sleep apnea, Head, neck cancer, so many things. So I want it to be worth it for the payer. And even from the perspective and Claire you spend a lot of time in medical sales to even from the perspective of who works within the field. So the folks in our offices from the front desk to the medical assistants to the mid level providers and the specialists like audiologists and allergy nurses, but even the sales professionals. So I always have my eyes open when I have an excellent customer service experience at a restaurant or at an airport or who knows where I'm always looking for someone that has that natural talent to see if we could use them I'm in the EMT space. And so I don't know that we've accomplished that yet. But EMT is an amazing specialty already from all of those angles, not because of me, I'm saying because of the collection of people that we attract.
Claire Davis 10:16
And do you feel like this specialty in particular, has more of a runway to achieve this kind of vision than other kinds of specialties?
Keith Matheny 10:26
I do? Yeah. It's a great question to you. I've never been asked that. But I do. Outside of Hypnic cancer, most of the disease states, we take care of our quality of life, rather than life and death. So I really do think that goal is achievable. And while it's not necessarily life and death, sometimes that means it's more expensive, right? When when we're dealing with lifelong diseases, that's very, very expensive for the patient and for the payer. So take a couple of examples. Obstructive sleep apnea, like I mentioned before, well, that's more than just snoring, that's more than just an inconvenience for your bed partner. That's a very serious disease, where you're spending most of the night or a lot of the night with very low oxygen holding your breath, night after night, after night, year after year. So over time, that has health implications head to toe, from high blood pressure to strokes to cardiovascular disease, to memory loss or short term memory loss, dementia. But it also has implications in the short term, drowsy driving, we're really trying to raise the awareness that drowsy driving is just as bad as drunk driving. Well, think about that. And so that disease alone, any innovation we can make there is safe for society, and in much better for the system. Think about something simple, like ear infections, and little kids. You know, when when the child is sick, that can't go to daycare, the parent can't go to work that has major economic implications, and several levels. Think about allergies, and medicine head, you know, it's a common topic for pharmaceutical company marketing, you know, less medicine had more medicine had, well, that employee may be sitting at their desk, but they're not performing at their peak for that company. Think about hearing loss, and what we've seen lately with the correlation with cognitive decline and dementia. And there's 50 or 100, other diagnosis that diagnoses care for by any anti doctor that meet the same criteria. And so, I often make the case when I'm talking about this topic that our specialty is the most economically impactful that there is, because these are chronic diseases, lifelong diseases that tend to have a lot of economic implications.
Claire Davis 12:57
And they certainly lead into so many other complications if not addressed. You know, I think they're, they also sound like some things that people are willing to put up with and live with for too long.
Keith Matheny 13:16
And then, you know, it's really hurting them significantly, in the long run really saw that during COVID, for example, when people were holding on to their cash, or it just evaporated, and people got really pragmatic about what they would spend their money on. So certainly, for a period of time, elective cases were closed. I mean, we as a specialty, were scared to practice our craft early in COVID. We heard all these rumors about well, the virus lives in the nasal pharynx, the back of the nose, and we would hear well, everyone in you know, or in China died after operating on a patient with COVID and Iran. And so you hear all these rumors, I don't know if any of them are ever substantiated. But But after we made it through that, we were willing to perform these kinds of cases, but the patients weren't because their quality of life. And as people were laid off, or furloughed, or you know, basically just cash disappeared for so many people around the world. They put off treating these diseases and that now three years later, it has gotten worse.
Claire Davis 14:19
So for that's so that's so interesting. And you know, it's it's amazing how long people are willing to live with things like that, in truly how much more expensive it can be then to treat it down the line. So if I were to, you know, if I were to put everybody on a level playing field, private practice physicians and those who are in managed care groups, is this kind of growth and business growth and mentality available for everyone or is this really focused just on private practice physicians and groups?
Keith Matheny 14:55
That's a great question. Yeah. You know, when I think of USC and T At that particular company that is a group purchasing organization, which what that is, is a, it's a buying group like Costco or Sam's Club, for example, it's a large organization, we have hundreds, if not 1000s, of doctors that are purchasing together. So we have that buying power to work with industry to bring significant value cost savings, but also new business efficiencies, new revenue opportunities. But the answer your question is that it really only applies to physicians that have the freedom to run their own businesses. So my colleagues that are in medical school situations or work for large health systems or in the military, etc, they they really are more of an employee, they don't have as much choice on these kinds of things. So where I can impact the most I think, is what you're asking is the independent community physicians EMTs, relatively small, there's the best we know there's only about 5000, maybe 5200. Community Physicians like me. So people that are really free and clear, they're practicing in an independent private practice, and make all the business decisions good or bad, make all the purchasing and technology decisions good or bad. They're about there's probably another 5000 or more that are in different settings that don't have that freedom. Mm hmm.
Claire Davis 16:36
And, you know, for those who do have that freedom, I'm sure they like, like any practice are no stranger to, you know, reps coming into the office and partnering to provide the care. And so for this show, you know, many of the folks listening today are going to be in some way touching the medical sales and healthcare field. Do you feel like you have, you know, have you had a good experience with, with, with medical sales professionals? Have you found that opportunity to really partner with people or, you know, how can somebody from this, from these from the medical sales capacity, really come in and be a help to your practice in the business growth of your practice? Is that possible?
Keith Matheny 17:25
Absolutely. By and large, I've had an excellent experience, again, that from the provider standpoint, so being a physician, but also now having three I don't even know how many sales teams I have, I think three as their boss basically is leading them. And what I counsel as I get the privilege of talking to a lot of young whippersnappers fresh out of their six or eight weeks of training before they're unleased on, on selling to some poor surgeon, right? And what I always tell them, I, I spent about 30 seconds talking about the technology they're about to sell. And what I talked about is how you sell it, at least my humble opinion. And that's building a relationship. And it's nothing new to you, Claire, obviously, you did extremely successfully for a long time. And not just building a relationship on the golf course or at happier, I mean, really diving into that physician's business, understanding what makes them win. Right. So there's a lot of people are twitchy talking about the business sides of healthcare, because patient care is a sacred. Our job is different than other professional jobs. What we can do in five minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes of our time, we can completely change somebody's life. I'm sitting here in the afternoon, and I think I did 10 to roughly 10 procedures as more surgeries and procedures. Oh, wow. For each of those people. This was a major day in their life. Yeah. And I try never to forget that because to me, you know, a lot of them are now very simple to do. I have a lot of experience. I really try to remind myself every time this is a big freaking deal for this patient. And like this is a scrapbook moment for them when they had their tonsils out when they had their sinus surgery. And for me it you know, it's for my colleagues and I become so routine. So I try to impress upon sales professionals that but even more getting to know what makes these businesses profitable. So I say that that patient care is a sacred thing. But we're not saints and we're not monks and we're not supported by some charitable organization. We run for profit businesses, although many of my colleagues are not Not making a profit. They're not good businesses. And so when the sales rep understands that and ways to make that doctor win in business, that's a, that's what I'm talking about. That's a sticky relationship, whatever widget or technology that you happen to be selling, that's a foregone conclusion, that physician is going to buy that and be loyal to you. Because you're helping them. So let me give you two quick examples of what I mean. First, in the OR, alright, so just because of who I am with all the device companies and clinical trials and things, I have such great relationships. So everybody always wants to dispatch their their people into my or so people make fun of me for always having my entourage but it's, I don't view it that way. I view it as I'm a teacher, like my mother taught first grade for 40 plus years, I view it as being a teacher. And in showing these folks, so much about how the technology I'm holding in my hand got there and why it got there and what's good about and what can be better. But what I have the people that I stood out, if you asked me to list 20 names of the best reps I've ever had, it would be people that understood the whole or, and your husband as a as a surgical pa understands. So when something goes wrong with technology, a rep that can help the nurse and the doctor troubleshoot something that's from a different company, because they care about the patient, they care about that operation, they care about getting done safely, completely effectively. Those people stand out, you know, in my case, I'm doing a complicated sinus surgery, we use powered instruments, we use CT navigation, we use drug eluting stents for use balloon, it's very complex. And what I just listed is probably about six different companies. And so those that can troubleshoot the other technologies for the care of the patient and the physician, those people stand out to me. But then in the office setting, you know, I think of the the sales reps that maybe they're selling something in the sinus area. And so they have the they take the initiative to figure out what type of other specialists like allergist primary care doctors, pulmonologist that would refer patients to me for sinus problems. And they help to build those bridges, they help to build those referral networks, whether it's driving me over their office, in buying some sandwiches. So I can spend 20 minutes with that doctor and say, Hey, this is the latest and greatest technology I have for your patients, I would love for you to send some to me, whatever. So folks that are not directly focused on selling their widget, but they're focused on driving business to me that oh, by the way, I will use their widget in caring for those patients. So they're going to win too. But they're about my entire practice. That's what I try to impress upon medical sales professionals. And we all know the ones that are just purely transactional. And they may be fun. I mean, they may be a really good time on the golf course or at happier. But the ones that I remember from 20 years ago, or I will remember 20 years from now are the ones that did those two things they were about the entire case the patient, and they were about my business.
Claire Davis 23:29
Yeah, that's powerful. And you know, so it reminds me of a story back from when I was in the field. And I was being trained by someone down in LA. And this woman I reference a lot. She's still a dear friend of mine. And she's has that mentality that you're talking about whether it was learned or earned, I don't know. But she's she's just one of those folks who, when there's such a complex and pressure cooker industry like this, it didn't seem to bother her. She didn't have this competitive edge where she wouldn't help beyond her scope. So I remember this one time, we walked into Cedars Sinai. And for whatever reason, there were so many cases that day. In this case, we were collecting tissue for ovarian cancer in the or for diagnostic tests. And there were so many cases that day that we literally burned through all the kits for our test. But there were still women who needed to have a test like ours are similar to ours done. And instead of saying, Oh, no, like we can't do it, we'll have to get you a couple cases and it'll take two days. I've got to run back to my house. The the the surgical oncologist said no, I want I want this done right now and she said absolutely no problem. There's a there's a there's a test from Oncotype DX. We'll go grab it, and I'll help you put it together. That's exactly as a young rep as someone who's green and for anyone listening here who's like that late He was crazy. Here's the thing, find business legal.
Keith Matheny 25:04
Not that she did it for that reason. But no, that made her so much more business doing that one thing, maybe losing one or two cases, got her 1000s of cases later.
Claire Davis 25:20
Absolutely exactly what I'm saying, yeah, it's about caring about what you care about. You know, that could be someone's mom, or aunt, daughter. And that made all the difference. And I loved that. And honestly, I was so so fortunate to experience that early in my career, because otherwise, really, what you're taught when you're just going straight into a sales organization is you're taught how to sell you're taught about your products. But it's almost like you must learn those things in the field. So I love that. I think that's phenomenal, phenomenal advice. So just to recap what you just shared. First of all, be familiar with the entire case, even if you are not the epic trainer for that hospital, but there is an issue and Epic is having a problem. You've never, never ever grabbed that smartphone, start Googling help that off, help them out, right. And I love that you talk about a way that medical sales people can be a real asset by helping you to build your business. And again, the whole point of this is building your business connecting you to referring providers helping you to have a thriving business as a physician means that more people get better health care, right? Greater access.
Keith Matheny 26:43
That's phenomenal. That's the point is, there's no reason that we can't be successful financially. But that's not the central goal. Right? To have better patient outcomes. It's not cutting cost cutting services, right? It's making what you have better. And that's I've never, I've never been able to tolerate reductionist type people that come in and just say, alright, well, we got to cut X million dollars here. So we're gonna do this, this and this, instead of trying to make so many millions of dollars more. And then at the same time, oh, by the way, improving patient care and patient outcomes. That's a that's what it's all about.
Claire Davis 27:26
Yeah, yeah. Everybody winning? Awesome. I absolutely love that. You know, I think that it's really remarkable what you're doing in the industry. I think that this focus you have of growing it to make it a top notch, not just your business, but the industry and the specialty as a whole, by helping with patients, helping providers helping industry connected businesses, like those insurance payers, right. I think it's phenomenal. I think, truly, it's the only way for private practices to grow and stick around and to heal healthcare, as in a broad sense, because if we can support our physicians and people like you who are really building businesses in health care, then it really does help every corner of it thrive. So let me ask you this. If someone wants to find out more about you more about what you're doing way to waste a partner with you, where would you tell them to go?
Keith Matheny 28:28
Yeah, thank you, Claire. I'm very active on social media, specifically LinkedIn. Right. And I have made so many business connections like you. They're in with so many other people. So I'm easy to find on they're very active on the messaging. Usually after I'm interviewed on one of these, I meet some wonderful people every single time, so feel free to reach out there. Of course, you can find me at my practice in North Dallas as well, Collin County, your nose and throat is the name of that. Those two weeks.
Claire Davis 29:01
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time today. I know that there is so much more we want to unpack in future episodes. So you guys look out for those because Dr. Martini and I have more to do when it comes to today's medical sales leader. But thank you so much for your time. I know that you're a busy man and surgeon, and you've got a packed day before this and probably after this as well. So we really appreciate you spending the time with us today and really breaking this apart.
Keith Matheny 29:26
Absolutely. Thank you so much. Awesome.
Claire Davis 29:29
And thank you everybody makes sure if you're listening to this episode, go find Dr. Matheny and his profile, make sure you connect with him and support him on LinkedIn. And thank you so much everyone who joined us today for another episode of today's medical sales leader. We'll see you next time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
