Effective October 9, 2009, ownership of the PrimeCare Network LLC was transferred from Clint Snell, CPO; Frank Snell, CPO, FAAOP; and Ted Snell, CP, to Cathie Pruitt and Jane Edwards.
“We all felt that the Network had reached a crossroads and that since Cathie and Jane have been instrumental in conducting the day-to-day management and long-range planning since the beginning, this was an opportunity for growth and expansion of the company,” said Clint Snell, president of Snell’s Orthotics and Prosthetics, Shreveport, Louisiana.
Cathie Pruitt
“With the ongoing uncertainty in the healthcare field, we understood that the Snells have to make investments in their private practices a top priority. At the same time, in order to move forward with our game plan for growth and expansion of services to members, an infusion of capital was needed,” said Pruitt, president and partner of PrimeCare. “Jane and I believe strongly enough in the future of PrimeCare and in the future of independent practitioners to make that investment. The Snells agreed with us that this would be an appropriate direction for them, us, and our members and partner suppliers.”
Frank Snell, president of Snell Prosthetic and Orthotic Laboratory, Little Rock, Arkansas, noted, “All of the Snells will continue our memberships in PrimeCare. The Network has been an invaluable resource to all of our companies, and we are maintaining a close relationship with the new owners and the membership and stand ready to provide whatever support and advice they might need.”
Jane Edwards
According to Edwards, partner and vice president of PrimeCare, the Network’s board of directors have “agreed to stay on in the capacity of an advisory board. Over course of 11 years, the advice and support of our board members have kept us moving in the right direction as well as counseling us when it comes to clinical matters,” she said.
“Passing the baton to these ladies, in my opinion, shows that all of us have a great deal of belief and faith in their leadership moving forward. With their guidance and support, the Network has created educational opportunities, access to contracts and other benefits, including our PrimeCare Partners program, managed-care executive training in O&P, and materials for members’ use in various aspects,” said Ted Snell, president of CFI Prosthetics Orthotics, Memphis, Tennessee.
Changes Ahead, but Core Values Remain
According to Pruitt and Edwards, initial feedback from members and other sectors of the field has been excellent. “While there will be changes, the changes will be positive ones,” Pruitt said. “We are going to keep our core values in place, that of not becoming involved in centralized billing, of continuing to grow our portfolio of national contracts, and maintaining member exclusivity, depending upon market size.”
Edwards said that PrimeCare will escalate its commitment to training and education. “Our plans are to devote ourselves to ensuring that our members know how to best use the contracts that they have as a result of membership and to increase our focus on making sure that managed-care executives and others in those organizations have O&P top of mind,” she said.
Pruitt agreed. “We want the managed-care organizations to understand the impact their reimbursement and other policies have on our members and on…the patient,” she said. “Given that understanding, we feel we can make incremental inroads with these companies to increase their perceptions of our practitioners as the professionals that they are, with the goal of improving reimbursements to our members.
“Additionally, we are communicating with them the fact that proper O&P care at livable reimbursements will save them money in the long term, as patients are less likely to develop co-morbidities that can result from our members…not being able to provide some of the technologies available today,” Pruitt noted.
