14Synonyms, Antonyms, Imponderables, Conundrums and

Business Currents
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OC T OBER
o f
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2 0 0 9
g r e a t e r
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c h a m b e r
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14Synonyms,
Antonyms,
Imponderables,
Conundrums
and Healthcare
Reform
by Steve Rasnick
20
Free-Market Strategies
The Missing Ingredient
in Healthcare
26
Some Ways to Help
Your EMR
Implementation
Succeed
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 Catering. Your Place or Ours.
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parties and receptions, to company banquets and meetings, we offer creative
menu selections and unsurpassed service in beautiful surroundings.
5111 Tamiami Trail North • Naples, FL 34103 • 239-430-4900 • hiltonnaples.com
OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
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Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 www.DowntownNaplesAssociation.com
(239) 435-3742
D E S T I NAT I O N
DOWNTOWN
The Heart of Naples
Shops, style and surprises. Enjoy fabulous
Fifth Avenue South, 3rd Street
South and the Bayfront. Escape to the
eclectic shopping venues of 41-10,
Crayton Cove and Tin City. Stroll a
gallery, find that special unique gift,
entertain friends. From sidewalk cafes to
world-class dining, enjoy a meal then
visit the area’s most pristine beach and
pier. All within a short walking distance.
We are Destination Downtown.
Enjoy!
October 3rd & 4th:
October 8th:
Naples For Neapolitans
Resident Appreciation Weekend on Main
Street and Downtown. Check www.
DowntownNaplesAssociation.com for all
participating businesses. Show your FL drivers
license and they’ll show you a token of their
appreciation for you as a year-round Resident!
Evening on Fifth
Howlin’ of a Night
Fifth Avenue S.
7 pm to 10 pm (Rain date: October 15)
October 15th:
First Annual Beer Festival
Sponsored by Coastal Beverage, Ltd. & Audi
5:30 pm to 9:30 pm
Tickets: $20
Reservations required - (239) 435-3742
October 31st:
Halloween Party on Fifth Avenue
12:00 pm to 4:00 pm: Children costume contest, face
painting, trick or treat and other “kid stuff”!
6:30 pm to 9:30 pm: Adults and Families Costume
Contest and live music on 5th Ave. S.
Photos courtesy of the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB.
Upcoming Events:
OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
CONTENTS
BUSINESS CURRENTS MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 2009 | VOLUME 4 / NUMBER 10
14
7
C OV E R S TO RY
Synonyms, Antonyms,
Imponderables, Conundrums
and Healthcare Reform
Does Healthcare reform make your head spin? You’re not alone! This month,
coulmnist Steve Rasnick offers his insights into possible legislation on one of the
most important issues facing our nation today.
14
ANGEL INVESTING
TECHNOLOGY
How did you get your start in business? Who
helped you with the initial capital to open
your doors? Angel investing is an option
for an entrepreneur - but the benefits are a
two way street for both the start up and the
“angel investor”...............................................7
Technology is the name of the game. Many
doctors are finding it critical to utilize electronic
medical record software and systems. But where
do you start? Find out here!............................27
HaveYou Heard About Angels?
Business Angels, that is.
OFFICE MANAGEMENT
Some Ways to Help Your EMR
Implementation Succeed
THE CHAMBER SCRAPBOOK
Photos from Recent Chamber Events.............30
Will a Medical Answering Service Fulfill NEW MEMBERS
Chamber New Member Business Directory.....32
the Basic Needs of Every Doctor?
Your medical practice needs to run like a
well-oiled machine. Who is there to help your
patients after hours?.....................................11
HEALTHCARE
Free-Market Strategies:
The Missing Ingredient in Healthcare
Writer Frank Hone gives his insights into
Healthcare Reform and what free-market
initiatives may be helpful in dealing with this
complicated issue .........................................21
MANAGEMENT
The Power of “Thank You” for
Customer Retention and Growth
A simple “thank you” can do wonders in the
business world. It’s a simple stratgey to keep
yourself connected with your clients and to make
sure they keep coming back for your insights
and help........................................................25
RENEWING MEMBERS
Renewing Member Business Directory............34
RIBBON CUTTINGS
New businesses in town..................................38
25
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Business Accolades and Achievements
What’s happening with local businesses.........40
TRANSITIONS
Who’s who in the local business community....43
EVENTS CALENDAR
Guide to upcoming Chamber Programs and
Events........................................................44
Business Currents
A PUBLICATION OF THE GREATER NAPLES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 Keep your most valuable
resource on the job.
Financial troubles. Depression. Addiction. Stress.
Workgroup conflicts. Passive aggressive coworkers.
Employees face a variety of personal and work-related
problems that can hurt their job performance, health
and well-being while driving up the costs of worker’s
compensation, health insurance, lost productivity, low
morale and turnover.
Employee Assistance Services (EAS) offers:
· A full service employee assistance program
· Counseling services for employees and family
· Consultation and training services
· Drug Free Workplace Programming
Show your employees you care and see how the
EAS employee assistance program can maximize
the health and vitality of your workforce.
Official Publication of
The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce
2390 Tamiami Trail North, Suite 210, Naples, FL 34103
239-262-6376 Tel ‫ ׀‬239-262-8374 Fax
www.napleschamber.org
PRESIDENT & CEO
Michael V. Reagen
EDITOR
Marci-Nicole Seamples
SALES
Michele Klinowski
Pat Port
Kathy Swank
DESIGN & PRODUCTION
Marci-Nicole Seamples
CONTRIBUTORS
Angelo Biasi
Linda Dunkelberger
Frank Hone
Bethann Kassman
Peter J. Polack
Steve Rasnick
239.435.0400
www.easofswflorida.com
editorial board
Too much sun?
Creative, functional shade solutions
for schools, parks,
sports complexes, resorts,
shopping centers, residences
and more
Michael Wynn, Chair
Jonathan Fishbane
John Fumagalli
Michelle Gleeson
Michele Harrison
Alan Korest
Nancy Lascheid
Edward Morton
Dick Munro
Rey Pezeshkan
Stephanie Spell
Susan Takacs
LEGACY LEADERS
Barron Collier Companies
Collier Enterprises
GATES
Kraft Construction Company
Lutgert Insurance/The Lutgert Company/
Premier Properties
NCH Healthcare Systems
Orion Bank
Physicians Regional Medical Center
Titan Custom Homes
CHAMBER STAFF
®
239.992.3080
www.skyshades.com
Royal Palm Academy Pre-K playground, Livingston Road, Naples
OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
Michael V. Reagen, President & CEO
Brenda O’Connor, Sr. Vice President, Programs
Stefanie Cuthbertson, Vice President, Community Relations
Michele Klinowski, Vice President, Hospitality
Joan Larson, Controller
Marci Seamples, Vice President, Communications
Alissa Arce, Executive Assistant to the President
Sandra Calad, International Community Manager
Didem Guler, Public Services Coordinator
Don Neer, New Member Services
Pat Port, Account Executive
Kathy Swank, Sr. Account Executive
ANGEL INVESTING
HaveYou
Heard About
Angels?
Business Angels, that is.
by Bethann Kassman
W
e all know about angels or guardian angels,
but how many people know about business
angels?
Business angels are private investors who back
emerging entrepreneurial companies that are too small or
too early in their development to attract the interest of
venture firms. The majority of angels invest in early stage
companies; that is at a very early, risky stage of company
development. Business angels are an essential source of
funding and support for companies and entrepreneurs
who lack guarantees or track records to access other
sources of finance that might be available on the market.
As important as the capital provided, angels also provide
mentorship, knowledge and expertise: resources that
new businesses need to grow and prosper.
Once upon a time, business angels were retired
businessmen who invested their business skills as well
as their capital in new and developing enterprises.
Nowadays, business angels comprise many different
types of investors: experienced business angels and
entrepreneurs who want to benefit from selected deal
flow and group processes; busy professionals who want
to know they can participate in the investment process
as they choose; novice angels who are experiencing and
investing for the first time and want ‘active learning’,
combining learning concepts and support while making
investments; and young enterprising investors who may
have the angel resources, but not necessarily the knowhow to get a young business off the ground.
Venture Capitalists and Business Angels
The difference between angel investors and
venture capitalists is that venture capitalists usually
invest at a later stage in the business cycle than do angels
and frequently invest 3rd party funds. Venture capitalists
typically do not provide early stage financing. They
look for fast growing companies which offer multiple
returns on their investment, may seek majority control
of these companies and look to invest between 1.5 to 20
million dollars per investment. Nurturing or mentoring
the entrepreneur is of lesser importance than is making
money within a specific period of time.
Angels, on the other hand, seek to provide
early stage funding, often serving as a bridge between
family and friends and venture funds. They invest their
own money. Most angels also work hard to mentor the
companies they invest in, hoping to nurture them to the
next stage in their growth. Experts estimate that angels
invest billions of dollars in thousands of ventures each
year.
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 An experience
you won’t forget
In a place
you can’t imagine….
Explore our landscape
experience our culture
learn our history
CJ HUESTON, ChairWOMAN
Corporate Dimensions, Inc.
Katie Sproul, CHAIR-ELECT
Barron Collier Companies
JEFF FRIDKIN, Immed. Past Chairman
Grant, Fridkin, Pearson, Athan & Crown, P.A
TODD GATES, Vice-Chair
GATES
Bud hornbeck, VICE-CHAIR
Lutgert Insurance
Jason Hunter Korn, VICE-CHAIR
Cohen & Grigsby, P.C.
jeanne seewald, vice-chair
Hahn Loeser & Parks, LLP
BILL SPINELLI, Vice-Chair
Titan Custom Homes
Lou Vlasho, Vice-Chair
Rimaco Corporation
JAMES A. WARNKEN, Vice-Chair
Markham, Norton, Mosteller, Wright & Co. P.A.
Michael Wynn, Vice-Chair
Sunshine Ace Hardware
Michael Reagen, President
Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce
Jeff ALlbritten
Edison State College
Bruce Anderson, Esq.
Roetzel & Andress LPA
MICHELLE ARNOLD
Collier County Government
TOM BUCKLEY
Naples Day Surgery
DAVID CALL
Fifth Third Bank
R. Scott Cameron
Cameron Real Estate Services, Inc.
Mike Carrigan
TIB Bank
patricia case
Case Benefit Consultants
Cathy Christopher
Inn on fifth
Bob Corina
Collier Enterprises
CHRIS DOYLE
Naples Daily News
John Fumagalli
Northern Trust
Dottie gerrity
cedar hames
Paradise Advertising
Michele Harrison
John R. Wood
Roy Hellwege
Bank of Florida
Murray Hendel
Collier County President’s Council
Clark Hill
Hilton Naples & Towers
Big Cypress
Seminole indian Reservation
HC-61 Box 21-A
Clewiston, Fl 33440
877.902.1113
JAMES HOPPENSTEADT
Pelican Bay Foundation
David Kakkuri
Florida Gulf Coast University
Peter Manion
Ex Officio Liaison with GNL
Geoffrey Moebius
Physicians Regional Medical Center
Bob Mulhere
RWA, Inc.
Edmundo Muniz
Tigris Pharmaceuticals
Colleen Murphy
Gibraltar Private Bank
Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum at okalee
5710 Seminole Way
Hollywood, FL 33314
954.797.5570
www.ahtahthiki.com
Bob Murray
Collier County President’s Council
KP Pezeshkan
Kraft Construction
Kevin Rambosk
Collier County Sheriff’s Office
Mayela Rosales
Azteca America
John Schmieding
Arthrex
Thomas Schneider
Ex Officio Liaison with GNL
brian settle
NCH Healthcare System
Michael Stephen
Coastal Engineering Consultants, Inc.
Tom Storrar
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Tom Taylor
Hole Montes, Inc.
sandy waite
Platinum Dry Cleaners
OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
How Do Angels Make Money
Angels make money when the
company they have invested in is either
sells or buys back the shares which have
been purchased by outsiders. Prior to
the current national financial downturn,
companies also went public through
IPOs (Initial Public Offerings). In this
economic environment, it is unusual to
find companies which can successfully
make an IPO. This leads angel investors
to question what the returns are in
angel investing. A study sponsored by
the Angel Capital Association, North
America’s professional alliance of
angel groups, and the Ewing Kauffman
Foundation, the largest foundation
devoted to entrepreneurship, looked at
the returns from investments made by
angels affiliated with angel organizations.
Their conclusion was that the risk taken
by angel groups (not individual investors)
was rewarded with overall returns (2.6
times initial investment in 3.5 years)
that compared favorably with other
equity investments. However, the study
cautioned that the rates of return were
favorably influenced by angel involvement
in the venture. Mentoring/coaching,
financial monitoring, thorough due
diligence, board participation and making
important connections were significantly
related to the ventures’ final outcome.
Although sixty-one percent of angels in
the study had portfolio returns that were
greater than the capital they invested, the
range of outcomes did demonstrate that
angel investing is a risky endeavor.
What’s Changing in the Angel Investing
World
Not everyone likes to ‘go it
alone’. Some individuals prefer to pool
their funds and invest together over a predetermined time period. In recent years,
angels have been pooling their funds and
forming groups. This enables investors to
leverage their investments and share the
due diligence processes associated with
evaluating investments. The Angel Capital
Association has shown that the growth
in the number of angel groups has more
than doubled since 2000. The same group
estimates that the average investment
per investment round has increased to
$280,000. To continue to raise sufficient
funds, more angels groups are forming
syndicates or investing together to help
fill the equity gap as venture capitalists
back away from the seed and early
stage investment end of the investment
spectrum.
There
has
been
a
professionalization of the angel market
and a further development in the ecospace which has allowed angels to
occupy a greater portion of the lower end
investment area previously occupied by
venture capitalists. Angels now provide
larger amounts of capital over longer
periods of time which is part of the reason
for co-investment among angel groups
(mentioned above). Many angel groups
are also becoming more specific in their
areas of investment. Some now invest only
in sustainable areas, others look to specific
industry sectors and still others specify
women or minority only companies.
The angel investing world will
continue to grow and adapt as the general
economic environment continues to
evolve. The challenges and opportunities
for angels will be in finding deals which
have the potential to stay healthy for
longer periods of time. This means that
angels will have to commit to nurturing
entrepreneurs over time and helping them
find access to follow-on funds. At the
same time, really good start-up companies
exist. The challenge will be to find these
companies, become involved with them
during their growth period and then help
them find successful exits.
Trends in Angel Investing
The economic crisis has generated
an unexpected flow of capital demand to
business angel networks, both because
the entrepreneurial companies’ needs
for cash have increased and because the
more traditional forms of financing have
become harder to obtain. This is creating
challenges for early stage investors, but
also providing interesting opportunities.
Most angel groups are being
careful in where they place their
investments and favoring those companies
where there is a shorter time for a return
on their investment. Businesses that use
cash efficiently through recurring revenues
and/or have low fixed costs will become
increasingly attractive. Cash flow has
become more important in insuring that
the investment can fund itself through the
Executive
Profile
Name:
Paul Jones, MD
Profession:
Family Physician
Years of Industry
Service: 19
Years of
Chamber
Affiliation: 12
How would you best describe what
separates your company from your
competitors?
My medical partner, Dr. Hermes Koop,
and I have established a medical
practice of highly personalized care.
We have a “patient first” philosophy
and strive to provide the patient with
comprehensive primary care services.
To that end, we offer annual physicals,
hospital visits, house calls, nursing
home visits, stress tests, EKG’s, Holter
monitor tests for heart rhythm, Coumadin
testing, immunizations, email access
and enhanced phone access, all for one
global fee. This comprehensive list of
services we provide to the patient truly
sets us apart from other practices in the
community.
What would you say are the major
contributors to your success?
I believe that putting the patients’ needs
first is a key to success. In our practice,
we provide a highly personal medical
home for our patients. It is a place where
patients can come first for all of their
health care needs, and it is a place that
people feel very comfortable coming to.
Patients feel very much a person and
not a number in this practice. It’s almost
like having medical professionals in your
immediate family on whom you may call
when needed. Probably
the most important service we provide is
promotion of wellness. Annual physical
assessments are highly encouraged, and,
education about wellness and common
illnesses is provided on a regular basis in
person and, on our interactive website at
pauljonesmd.com. The recent debate on
healthcare reform shows how important it
is to have a physician who can be your
advocate and guide in today’s confusing
climate surrounding healthcare.
What, if anything, would you
change about your experience(s) on
the road to success?
Every triumph and every tragedy presents
a valuable experience that makes us better
people if we choose to learn. I would not
change anything for that reason.
What do you see for future of your
company?
I believe this type of practice will continue
to thrive. People are living longer, and
are very interested in how to do so while
enjoying good health. A well informed,
compassionate physician who has the
time to attend to the details of the patient’s
health will continue to be a valuable
commodity.
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 early growth stage and in determining company valuations. Investors are placing more
emphasis on management teams, competitive advantage, growing market opportunities
and the potential for good exits before they invest their money. Investment preferences
have remained fairly consistent over time with biotechnology, business products, IT,
medical devices/equipment and software being the industry areas most sought by angel
groups. Clean tech and green products are new areas in which there has been an increase
in interest. In the current economic environment, investment decisions take longer and
finding the right deal can take more time and diligence.
Another trend is the shortage of exit strategies for business angels. The
IPO market has temporarily disappeared, venture capitalists have cut back on their
investments and investments need a longer time to exit. Valuations are lower reflecting
reduced exit values, the slow economic environment and financing challenges. One
positive effect has been the number of first time business angels who have been
disappointed with the stock market and feel that they may have more transparency
and impact with angel investing. Business angels continue to be active and are adapting
to the environment by being more careful about time to break even, valuation and
investment terms. They are trying to assure, from day one, that either they will be able
to secure financing until the company breaks even or already have future investors
identified who will help in this next-stage financing.
And finally, there is the beginning of a trend for cross-border investments. As
world business has become more global and the internet has become more pervasive,
many early stage companies are looking to begin operations in multi-locations. This will
mean that angel groups will begin to form alliances or co-investment vehicles with angel
groups in other countries. The potential for exciting and challenging opportunities will
only continue to grow.
CONGRATULATIONS TO:
Joetta D. Abbazio, Presiden
and the team at the
Bosom Buddies Breast Cancer
Support, Inc.
4330 Tamiami Trail E.
Naples, Florida 34112
(239) 417-4600
On being the first to spot Chester this month!
You could be here next month! Simply find the Chamber Cat (this page doesn’t
count!) and call or email Marci at 298-7935 or email
[email protected]
with the page number.
(contest open to Greater Naples
Chamber Members Only)
10 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
Southwest Florida and Angel Investing
In Southwest Florida, there are at
least two angel/venture groups which are
working to help nurture small business.
The Gulf Coast Venture Forum (GCVF)
exists to provide a forum to encourage
the participation of investors. It is now
moving ahead to develop a regional Angel
Fund which will support businesses in
southwest Florida and the state of Florida.
Go Beyond Network is a new angel group
which exists to nurture entrepreneurs with
early stage investments and mentoring.
It is dedicated to providing investors
with the necessary skills and tools for an
enriching investing experience. Go Beyond
Network is a member led group through
which investors leverage their investment
by a pooling of funds which allows access
to bigger and better entrepreneurial deals.
The angel group benefits from group due
diligence, common processes and expert
practice while maintaining flexibility in
growing a portfolio. This is accomplished
through hands-on experience as the group
evaluates each potential investment and
through a training curriculum which is
offered to investors.
For businesses seeking funding,
the right angel investor or group of angels
can be the perfect first step in finding
formal funding. For investors looking
to become involved in financing and
mentoring entrepreneurial businesses,
there are local options which allow
potential investors to participate in the
investment cycle in a variety of ways.
Angels, of the business angel variety, can
and do make a difference
Resources: “ACA Member landscape – 2009”:
Angel Capital Association, April 16, 2009.
“Returns to Angel Investors in Groups”, Robert
Wiltbank and Warren Boeker, November 2007.
.›
Bethann Kassman is the CEO of Go Beyond
Network which she founded in March of 2009.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology, a
Masters in administration and a Doctorate
in international business. Until recently, Dr.
Kassman lived in Switzerland where she ran a
successful business consulting company and was a
professor of Entrepreneurship and Marketing. She
also ran an angel group in Geneva, was active in
the KPMG Venture Kick program and currently
sits on various committees in the angel investing
world both in America and in Europe.
OFFICE MANAGEMENT
Will a Medical Answering Service Fulfill the Basic
Needs of Every Doctor?
by Linda Dunkelberger
D
octor’s offices need to run like a well oiled
machine 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Unlike
some other professional offices, phones cannot
go occasionally avoided or unanswered. Unfortunately,
doctors cannot always rely solely upon the mercies
of their office staff to make sure the phones are being
answered 24/7. A medical answering service will fill the
void when office staff cannot answer the phone or just
when a medical answering service is needed. But will that
be enough for every doctor?
A medical answering service will fulfill the basic
needs of every doctor but do some require more? Let’s
determine what basic needs of doctor offices are as it
pertains to a medical answering service.
A medical answering service can provide general
medical answering service back-up during non office
hours. For a quality medical answering service, the staff
should be trained and versed on various protocols in the
medical industry. They are required by law to be HIPPA
compliant and follow all JACHO regulations. A general
medical answering service offers 24-hour receptionist
service and offers seamless assistance both during
and after work hours. All messages should be legible,
and verified. This will ensure that patients are able to
communicate with their doctor 24/7 and no calls will
go unanswered. Beyond the basics, a medical answering
service can provide services that become an extension
of their office. A customized medical answering service
program is available for the different needs of every
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 11
doctor and doctor’s office. There are many
specialized services, some of those services
include:
•
Virtual Receptionist - The Virtual
Receptionist™ service includes all of the
traditional medical answering service
applications, plus many new applications
not commonly associated with a standard
medical answering service or Call Center
environment.
•
Email - Now no matter what
time of day or night you can be sure that
important emails are being responded to
so you are not losing contact with medical
associates, hospital administration, or
medical labs.
•
Bilingual Medical Answering
Service - As the Hispanic population
continues to grow nationwide, it’s
important to be able to provide a bilingual
medical answering service, bilingual
patient services, and bilingual messages.
•
Emergency Messaging Dispatchcustomized emergency medical answering
service dispatch will get urgent messages
to the right doctor or employee on staff.
hopeless and your family is being torn apart. Mental
There is no doubt that a quality
medical answering service will fulfill the
basic needs of every doctor. Every doctor
needs to provide clear and constant
communication with patients and medical
associates. A medical answering service
has the solutions to provide basic services
or go beyond the basics and customize an
entire medical answering service program
that fits the needs of every doctor and
doctor’s office.
illness and addiction can be overcome. Thousands of
.›
Make the call.
One phone call can make the difference when life feels
families just like yours have found the David Lawrence
Center and rebuilt their lives. Make the call. You have
nothing to lose but the pain. 239.455.8500.
DavidLawrenceCenter.org | 239.455.8500 | 6075 Bathey Lane, Naples, Florida 34116
12 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
Linda Dunkelberger is a freelance writer and
editor working on a project for goACAnow.com
or Answer Center America, Inc. “Will a Medical
Answering Service Fulfill the Basic Needs of
Every Doctor?” summarizes that a medical
answering service can not only fulfill the basic
needs of every doctor but go beyond the basic
needs. Answer Center America is the premier call
center solution to the healthcare industry and
provides customized medical answering service
programs.
Source: articlesbase.com
Voted Best Nurses, Best Doctors,
Best Quality, & Best Reputation.
Voted best nurses, best doctors, best quality, and best reputation
in Collier County by National Research Corporation,
Consumer Choice Awards® 2008
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 13
Synonyms, Antonyms,
Imponderables,
Conundrums and
Healthcare Reform
by Steve Rasnick
14 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
CO
E RS TSO
TO
CO
VV
ER
RR
YY
T
he political process can move at lightning speed
when the politicians feel that they can garner some
political advantage, and, in the case of Healthcare
Reform, the process is moving even faster. Consequently,
the risk in writing an article on Healthcare Reform is that
by the time the article is published, the unknown has
become known and the known has all but disappeared.
Therefore, I offer the following disclaimer. What follows
was a snapshot as of August 2009, and if something’s
changed between then and publishing, as I expect that
they will, I will cover the changes in a future article.
I use words and concepts to help a reader better
understand the subject that I may be writing about.
But words can be very confusing and depending upon
the context in which they may be used and may have
many different meanings. For example, today, kids say
something is “bad” to describe something which is really
very good. The word “phat” has nothing to do with your
weight, but is really slang to describe something which
is “highly attractive or gratifying”. But this is not a new
phenomenon. I vividly remember talking to my mother
about my first date with my wife, over 47 years ago, and
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 15
describing her as “cool” when I really
meant she was (and still is) very hot.
with a legacy of unfulfilled retirement
promises.
Not too long ago, in Washington,
DC, there was a debate over the meaning
of the words “is” and “sex”. Now we all
know what these words really mean, and
how they should be used, but President
Clinton and many of our elected officials,
seemed to be confused. If you still have
questions, I suggest that you ask your wife,
as I did. With a clarity and directness
that I have come to expect from her, she
let me know exactly what ”is” and “sex”
meant , what they would never mean, and
what would happen to me if I chose to do
further research on the subject!
Conundrums and imponderables
only add to the confusion. Has your wife
ever asked you whether a particular outfit
made her look fat? That is a conundrum and
may be toxic. But the best imponderables,
outside of Washington, come from kids.
I have two grandsons, five and four,
and they ask some of the best and most
innocent questions. “Papa Steve, when do
fish sleep? Where does God live? Where
do babies come from?”
Even today, we seem to be very
confused over the meaning of words.
Toxic Assets, the words used to describe
high risk and underperforming bank
assets, became Legacy Assets. Does that
mean Toxic Waste will soon become
Legacy Waste and Toxic Dumps will
become Legacy Dumps? Even the troubled
auto industry is confused. Retiree health
benefits, the results of unsustainable
union contracts, recently became Legacy
Benefits, because it was a better and more
descriptive phrase. Unfortunately, GM
and Chrysler, two thirds of the American
auto industry, recently went through
bankruptcy which will leave their retirees
We all know that fish sleep when
we sleep. That is why their eyes are never
closed when we are looking into the fish
tank. God lives everywhere, but mostly
in our hearts, but I really don’t have a
snappy answer for the baby question. Not
because I don’t remember, since I still have
a distant memory. However, the boys are
so innocent and accepting that they are
still satisfied with “babies are God’s gifts
to us” and who could argue with that?
Wouldn’t life be easy if everything was
viewed through the innocent eyes of a
child and if people said what they meant
and meant what they said? Unfortunately,
that is just not reality in our daily lives or
in our political process. Washington is
not a normal place and it seems as though
our elected officials speak with a singular
goal: to get re-elected. They use their own
language and what may appear clear as a
bell to us is confusing to them. What they
say, and often legislate, is confusing and
illogical to us. The $240 million dollar
bridge to nowhere and over 8,000 pork
projects in the “no more pork budget” are
two prime examples.
Our elected Washington officials
are currently crafting complex healthcare
legislation, far more difficult to understand
than the imponderables about fish, God
and babies. Moreover, they are using
words and concepts which have multiple
meanings and are unclear. Yet, when
passed, and it will be passed, it will have
a dramatic impact on the way Americans
receive healthcare services in the future.
That is why we must carefully examine
the real meanings behind their words and
concepts.
While it may seem as though
every Senator and Congressional
Representative has developed their own
version of Healthcare Reform, there are
really only four credible players/entities,
in my opinion.
President Obama, in a brilliant
political move, used a great deal of his
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16 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
political capital by drawing a line in the
sand and supporting Healthcare Reform,
with a bill to be signed in 2009. He developed
certain broad based principals, but, left the
details up to Congress to work through.
Brilliant, in that, if Healthcare Reform is
not passed, it’s the fault of Congress, not
Obama. The basic core of his plan is to
have a government insurance option to
compete with the private sector and to
keep the private sector ”honest”. That is
right; he wants to create a governmental
bureaucracy to keep the private sector
honest. Notwithstanding that this might
constitute the pot calling the kettle black,
he has recently expressed a willingness to
objectively consider other alternatives. I
believe that his recent flexibility is simply
recognition that his presidency will be
evaluated, in great part, by whether or
not he was successful in delivering on his
number one campaign promise.
The second player is the House of
Representatives. In early July, they passed
their version of Healthcare Reform. It
was more than 1000 pages long and had
absolutely no bi-partisan Republican
support and a growing amount of
Democratic dissent, based primarily on
affordability. Its basic points were:
•
Offers access to affordable health
insurance for all individuals on
a guaranteed issue basis, with
elimination of most restrictive
underwriting rules.
•
•
Establishes an Insurance Exchange,
a government insurer, through which
individuals and groups can purchase
plans of benefits that meet the
standards established by the Benefits
Advisory Committee, presumably a
new government bureaucracy charged
with defining coverage minimums and
determining “the essential benefits
package”. The Exchange places
the government in the insurance
business, much like Medicare, and,
although the private sector can still
sell insurance, it must comply with
the standards established by the
government. The initial indication is
that the minimum plan design will
have unlimited preventive benefits
and an out of pocket maximum no
greater than $5K for individuals and
$10K for families, indexed to the CPI.
Establishes the Health Choices
Administration,
another
governmental agency, reporting to
the Executive Branch. It is charged
with establishing the Exchange and
creating the rules of the road for
Healthcare Reform. The Health
Choices Commissioner
directly to the President.
reports
•
Employers will be required to
contribute at least 72.5% towards the
cost of employee coverage and 65%
for the cost of family coverage. (Play
or Pay)
•
Provides a tax credit equal to 50% of
the amount paid for health insurance,
for employers with between 10 and 25
employees and adjusted based upon
average salary levels.
•
In lieu of providing health insurance
coverage, an employer may contribute
to the Exchange, at an indexed
rate of 8% of payroll. (Play or Pay)
Employers with a payroll of less than
$250-$400K are exempt from the
requirement.
•
Individuals will be required to
participate in an acceptable health
insurance plan or pay a tax of 2.5%,
added to the modified adjusted gross
income of the individual. (Play or
Pay)
•
Numerous cost and quality measures,
which are simply too numerous to
list.
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Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 17
The two other players included
the recently deceased Senator Ted
Kennedy, Chairman of the Senate HELP
Committee. (Health, Education, Labor
and Pensions) and Senator Max Baucus,
Chairman of the very powerful Senate
Finance Committee.
Kennedy had been the champion
of Universal Health, seemingly, forever. He
favored a Medicare for All Program with
Medicare acting as the single payor. In
his program, the Employer Based System
of providing health benefits ends and is
replaced by a government sponsored and
operated program. His program does not
have broad based Congressional support
and is not a likely final plan, but Senator
Kennedy was such a powerful force in
the Senate, his ideas will not be easily
dismissed. Congress could decide to honor
his many years of service to the country by
implementing his program.
passed without any Republican support
and with a large amount of Democratic
resistance, based primarily on cost.
The HELP Committee has recently
published their version of Healthcare
Reform and some of its highlights are
listed below. Once again, the bill was
•
The
Executive
•
•
•
•
Access to affordable health insurance
for all individuals on a guaranteed
issue basis, with elimination of most
restrictive underwriting rules.
Establishes
American
Health
Gateways, which are Exchanges
established by States and funded by
HHS.
Creates a Medical Advisory Council
to determine the Schedule of items
and medical services which constitute
essential healthcare benefits.
Creates the Community Health
Insurance Option which is the
government sponsored insurance
plan.
Employers will be required to share in
the cost of providing health insurance
for employees and dependent, but the
exact amounts have not as yet been
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18 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
released.
•
•
•
Under the Employer Shared
Responsibility provisions, and
employer will have to pay a penalty of
$750 per employee per year for every
FTE and $375 for every PTE, but this
provision does not apply to employers
with fewer than 25 employees.
Individuals will be taxed for any
month in which they do not have
qualifying coverage under the
Shared Responsibility Rules, but
the amounts have not as yet been
published.
Numerous cost and quality measures,
which are simply too numerous to
list.
Senator
Baucus,
Democrat
from Montana, has taken the lead in the
development of a program that has a
legitimate chance of passing, but has not
yet been published. His recent political
campaign contribution difficulties may
impede his changes of success.
Baucus favors retaining the
Employer Based System, employer
mandates to finance the program, the
creation of an Insurance Exchange to
assist participants in purchasing health
insurance, reducing healthcare costs
through the creation of Electronic Medical
Records, transparency throughout the
health delivery system and creating
incentives promoting wellness and
prevention. Hot dogs, apple pie and
perhaps Chevrolet, if GM survives, but
the devil is always in the details and if you
are interested in all of the details you can
see his complete plan at:
http://finance.senate.gov/
healthreform2009/finalwhitepaper.pdf.
Now that the major programs
have been outlined above, it should be clear
that all of the proposals will require a very
dramatic change in the manner in which
healthcare is delivered in America. It also
should be very clear that all of the programs
also create many new bureaucracies, very
expensive programs that will cost well
over one trillion dollars over the next 10
years. But are they necessary and are they
worth the cost? Let’s look further.
More than 170 million Americans
currently receive their benefits through
their employers. When surveyed, the vast
majority of employees are happy with
this system, although it is costly and has
resulted in almost 47,000,000 uninsured
Americans. In the richest country in the
world, we should not have any uninsured.
In the pursuit of that goal, is it logical to
place the employer based system at risk, or
even replace it with another government
bureaucracy? Is this a conundrum, simply
illogical, or maybe, I just don’t get it?
No, this is not a college drinking
game. It is the mechanism that all of
the proposed plans intend to use to
finance their healthcare programs. All
employers, above a yet to be agreed upon
minimum size, will have to provide all
employees with a yet to be determined
minimum health plan or have to pay a yet
to be determined tax to the government.
Ostensibly, the tax, predicted to be eight
percent of payroll, will be used to fund the
cost of health coverage for the uninsured.
Got a headache yet? If not, just wait.
for all employers. Why? Because all
employers are not the same. Take a 50
employee law firm and compare it to
the payroll of a 50 employee landscape
firm. The same percentage rate,
perhaps seven percent, will produce
wide variances in the amount paid,
because their payrolls are significantly
different. It is not unreasonable to
think that if an employer could save
money by opting for the government
plan, which they would. That can’t
be their goal, or is it?
A percentage of payrolls have
many potential problems, especially if you
believe that one of their goals is to preserve
the Employer Based System.
•
•
If the percentage is too low, employers
will dump their plans and go to the
cheaper government plan. This will
destroy the Employer Based system.
The Lewin Group, a Washington
based think tank, owned by United
Healthcare, estimates that about
112 million participants, currently
covered through their employers,
will migrate to the governmental
plan within 12-18 months. (about
170 million participants are covered
through the Employer Based System)
There are fundamental problems
with a flat percentage of payrolls
•
Lastly, a little bit of Underwriting 101
needs to be applied to the process.
Today, medical inflation is running
at close to 10 percent. Let’s assume
that it will reduce to only 5% under
the national plan, however. Is your
payroll growing at a rate of 5% per
year? Clearly mine is not and I believe
that most companies are trying to
keep theirs flat, or reducing it. If
payroll is flat and medical inflation is
5%, in just three years the proposed
program will have been underfunded

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Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 19
by 15%. Is Washington unaware that
we are in the middle of a significant
recession, or are they developing
their program in a vacuum?
survive? Who can compete with the
governmental plan? A public plan
offered through the Exchange has to
be a non-starter, as it will destroy the
insurance industry and flies in the face
of one of Baucus’s primary goals, to
preserve the Employer Based System
of Benefits. Need proof? Just take a
look at the State of Florida. Citizens
Insurance Company, created and
owned by Florida, is now the states
largest Property and Casualty insurer,
and many of the private insurers are
fleeing the state because they no
longer can compete with Citizens.
All of the proposed plans will
provide guaranteed access to affordable
health coverage for individuals and
small business. The mechanism that
they propose is the creation of a Health
Insurance Exchange. The stated goal of
the Exchange is to “connect individuals
and employers to insurance offered at
local, state, regional or national levels”.
Let’s take a closer
look at the details of the
Exchange:
•
•
I initially envisioned that
the Exchange will be
nothing more than a web
portal through which
health insurance coverage
will be offered by private
carriers.
However,
they are obviously new
bureaucratic
agencies
with great power. They
will be heavily regulated
and required to offer
mandated plan designs
at statutorily mandated
rates,
without
any
coverage limits, such as
pre-existing conditions,
etc. One has to wonder
how
carriers
will
survive having to accept
everyone, without limits,
at rates determined
by Washington. However, since
we all know that health insurance
executives make too much money,
at least in the eyes of politicians,
who really cares about the carriers
and the millions of their employees?
We should, because if the private
insurance marketplace becomes
another auto industry, what is left?
I am afraid that it’s the government
plan, which is scary.
There is another potential problem.
If the Exchange contains a public
plan, as well as, private sector
plans, how will the private plans
•
Lastly, if plans buy their coverage
will undoubtedly be included in any
healthcare legislation. In general, it
creates a governmental bureaucracy which
will conduct research to determine the
most cost effective procedure or method
for treating a condition, as a means of
controlling costs through the promotion
of best practices. In principal, it’s long
overdue since we often waste money on
treatment protocols and drugs which do
not improve the medical outcome or the
quality of a patient’s life. Nevertheless,
what is feared is that Comparative
Effectiveness will ultimately be used to
control costs through rationing of care
and medical services, and will interfere
with the normal physician/patient
relationship. We all need to
be vigilant with respect to
this entire process.
Confused? If you are,
don’t be embarrassed because
it is very confusing, unless
you speak Washington. But I
have been taking Washington
language courses since 1992,
and I personally question the
motives, as well as, the details
of all of the various Healthcare
Reform Bills. Some of their
proposals are just plain ”bad”
and others are “bad”, but not
“phat”. The devil is always in
the details, so be very careful
what you support.
through the Exchange, what
happens to the 500,000 health agents
nationally? If you feel that they are
useless, perhaps you do not care.
However, if you are realistic, think
about all of the problems which
your agent has solved for you and
contemplate how much work you
will have to do on your own in a
governmental program. Be careful of
what you may wish for!
The 2009 Stimulus Bill included
over $1.1 Billion for Comparative
Effectiveness Research and the program
20 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
We will definitely
have some sort of Healthcare
Reform legislation signed this
year. Wouldn’t it be a real
conundrum if in the pursuit
of Healthcare Reform, we
threw the baby out with the bathwater?
Twelve to twenty four months from now
we could be talking about what to do
with the 47,000,000 participants that are
still left in the employer based system.
That would be an imponderable!›
Steve Rasnick is the President of Self Insured
Plans, LLC, a Naples based employee benefits
firm serving more than 33,000 participants in
Florida and Hawaii. He is the past president of
the Southwest Florida Health Underwriters
Association, a director of the Self Insurance
Institute of America and is a frequent national
speaker on health and benefit issues.
H E A LT H C A R E
Free-Market Strategies
The Missing Ingredient in
Healthcare
by Frank Hone
H
ealthcare in the United States is a multifaceted
mega-industry, comprising nearly 20% of
our overall economy. Yet it is fraught with
inefficiency, misplaced incentives, cost inequities and
access limitations.
It is supply-side focused, with little to
accommodate for demand-driven strategies that have been
the hallmark for growth and efficiency in so many other
areas of business. And this has a direct effect on the health
status of our people.
In a real sense, Corporate America has an
opportunity and a responsibility to proactively support
ways to improve healthcare in this country because, like it
or not, healthcare is a business. And the level of efficiency
of the healthcare system and the health of our workforce
impacts the ability of corporations to maximize profits.
Companies can do this by addressing health
behavior change through free-market strategies and
demand-driven solutions based on personal responsibility
and grounded in “financial leverage.”
Healthcare in the US
The United States is the world’s largest economy.
It has grown and prospered largely because our capitalist
way encourages risk-taking and entrepreneurialism. This
has allowed us to forge a global competitive advantage in
many arenas of the economy. Except healthcare.
Healthcare in the United States has evolved to
become one of the more complex and controversial issues
of our time. It is complex because of the number of parties
that play a role in the design and delivery of healthcare, and
it is controversial because of many divergent views of myriad
stakeholder groups on how to address its shortcomings.
From all the flash points and fireworks that have
occurred during the summer months of 2009, one might
think that healthcare is primarily a political issue. But it is
much more than that. Healthcare is an issue that touches
every one of us in many different ways.
Part of the confusion in the current debate is
based on semantics. Even the White House changed gears
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 21
at one point recently by shifting the
language from “Health Reform” to “Health
Insurance Reform.”
What makes this shift relevant is
that it suggests the focus should be more
on how we pay for services as opposed
to how they are delivered. And that
highlights one of the central points that
differentiate healthcare from virtually any
other industry: we as consumers receive
medical care from a physician or other
healthcare professional, but someone else
– assuming the individual is insured – pays
the majority of the bill.
This, in itself, sends a conflicting
microeconomic message – that the actual
out-of-pocket cost of care is the real cost.
This is one example where we are losing
the opportunity for “financial leverage”
with the consumer; more will be explored
later on. But first, let’s focus on the macro
level and consider some of the major
threats to achieving good healthcare at a
reasonable price in this country.
Key Challenges
One big problem is that chronic
disease now affects more than 50% of
the adult population. Cardiac disease,
diabetes, mental illness, cancer, asthma
and COPD are growing in prevalence and
are among the most costly to treat.
The good news is that many
innovative and effective treatments have
been discovered and commercialized
to help control these diseases. The bad
news is that most patients are far from
fully adherent to their treatment regimen
because of cost, apathy, side effects or
other reasons. Also, many people with
these and other chronic diseases go
undiagnosed or untreated. This can drive
cost significantly due to complications
and hospitalizations.
A high proportion of health
conditions and diseases are due to lifestyle
and behavioral issues. Our sedentary
ways and excessive eating habits have
certainly contributed to the extraordinary
growth in the number of people that are
overweight or obese in the population,
which has real health consequences. And
other bad habits lead to additional health
risks.
As mentioned earlier, the third
party health insurance payment system,
which basically pre-pays our medical
bills, leaves the consumer with little or
no understanding of the true cost of their
healthcare services, and little incentive to
be efficient in their usage of the system.
Incentives are misplaced, as
today’s emphasis on the supply-side
provides financial rewards to physicians
for doing their job correctly by providing
the proper recommendations, tests, and
protocols, but not consumer for behaving
in a healthful way and taking good care of
themselves.
In many ways, we have become
complacent, both from a macro perspective
and from a micro perspective. As a nation,
we expect to always be the smartest,
strongest, swiftest country on earth
because of our history and success. And
as a people, we feel our right to express
our well-earned freedom in a variety of
ways, and this often includes the way we
eat or drink, use tobacco, choose not to
exercise, and a number of other lifestylerelated behaviors.
The fact of the matter is that
we don’t rank well as a healthy nation,
and some 70% of our healthcare costs
are actually attributable to individual
behaviors. And this can actually hurt
our global competitive advantage by
not addressing the health risks we face
individually and collectively.
So, regardless of the ultimate
outcome of health reform in Washington,
there are still major opportunities for
companies to support free-market
approaches and implement demand-side
strategies to give their employees more
voice and responsibility for their own
health.
Demand Driven Solutions
While it’s one thing to advocate
free-market solutions as a way to inject
more consumer power into healthcare,
there are a number of structural and
perceptual barriers to overcome. Demand
side solutions can generally occur best in
economic situations where the consumer
can easily compare price and quality,
have broad access to a variety of choices,
22 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
consider relevant incentives, and be the
ultimate decision-maker on how and
when to make a purchase.
With
a
few
exceptions,
healthcare doesn’t really offer that sort
of scenario. There are several emerging
areas, however, that are contributing to
change:
•
Retail health clinics offer
convenience and posted prices
•
Medical
tourism
allows
for
price and quality comparison
shopping
•
Concierge
medical
practices
provide easy access at a predetermined price
•
$4 generics have become popular
as an alternative to branded
drugs
Each of these areas is still
relatively small, but they are each growing
and represent ways to drive more interest
in price transparency, quality comparisons,
convenience, and easier access.
But the big opportunity is for
corporations to recast health insurance and
give their employees more of an incentive
to be smarter about their health-related
actions and decisions, especially since this
is a benefit for which the corporation pays
some 70-80%.
By effectively using “financial
leverage”, we can do a lot to help make
the system more efficient by injecting
“consumer power” into the mix.
One approach is to use an auto
insurance model that rewards good health
behavior and penalizes bad behavior.
Safeway is an emerging leader in using
such a design by differentiating premiums
based on an employee’s behaviors related
to four factors: weight, blood pressure,
cholesterol levels, and smoking.
Another strategy is to implement
Consumer-Driven Healthcare plans which
combine high-deductible health insurance
with Health Savings Accounts as way
to begin to put more health purchase
decisions in the hands of consumers.
Consumer Engagement
But it takes a bit of work on the
part of the employers too, as they must to
do more to help educate the workforce on
maximizing their healthcare dollars. This
means guiding them more on wellness
awareness and prevention strategies, as
well as how to be more prepared for their
interaction with their physicians and
other health resources.
Many companies are getting
involved with incentives for participation
in various health screenings or disease
management programs, and have also
instituted rewards for positive outcomes,
like quitting smoking.
There’s a lot that corporations
can do, though they do have to walk
a fine line between being prescriptive
about requirements versus creating an
atmospheres and environment that is
conducive to healthy behaviors. There
are also privacy issues to contend with,
but they can be managed. An outside
health population management firm can
conduct health screenings and review the
medical data to develop strategies and can
also provide health improvement services
directly to the employee base.
Corporations
across
the
country are already actively engaging
their workforce in a variety of different
programs to help address the health and
productivity of their employees, and
this contributes to an emerging focus on
demand-driven solutions.
Beyond these strategies for
helping to make employees better
consumers of healthcare and healthier
individuals, business leaders and
coalitions can also be vocal advocates for
change, promoting free market solutions.
Most CEOs understand and
believe that our free market economy has
enabled their companies to achieve the
success they enjoy today, and that demand
side strategies are key drivers of their sales.
Also, since most working consumers
spend the majority of their waking hours
on the job, it only makes sense that they
should be healthy and productive to best
contribute to their company’s success.
By effectively engaging the
workforce in healthier behaviors and
smarter utilization of the healthcare system
– including leveraging their consumer
power – we can begin to effectively
address and improve the inefficiencies of
the current system, improve the health
of the nation, and ensure that America’s
companies continue to enjoy our global
competitive advantage. ›
Frank Hone lives in Naples and works as
Sustainable Engagement Leader at Healthways,
the population health improvement company
based in Nashville, TN. His book, Why
Healthcare Matters: How Business Leaders Can
Drive Transformational Change was published
in September 2008. He can be reached at frank.
[email protected].
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24 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
TMEACRHKNEOTLI O
NG
GY
The Power of
“Thank You”
for Customer
Retention and
Growth
by Angelo Biasi
I
recently received a personal phone call from a Wells Fargo
bank representative. She said she was calling me simply to
“thank me” for my business. She assured me that, if I had any
immediate needs, I would just need to contact her and they’d be
happy to take care of it. It was a simple call but very effective for
several reasons:
»
It was a phone call. There was a live person on the other end
and she was thanking me for my business – personally. This
is more valuable than a standard thank-you card, bulk email
or other non-personal form of communication.
»
It was non-promotional. Just a simple thank you. “We
appreciate your business. If we can serve you better,…”
Certainly, Wells Fargo could have easily inserted into the
script a promotion for a new interest rate or investment
product they have available as a presumed benefit but they
chose not to.
»
It was friendly, courteous and professional.
»
It made me feel important and appreciated.
The History and Power of “Thank You”
Etymology expert Carol Pozefsky reports that ‘thanks’
and ‘thank you,’ (both short for “I thank you”) dates as far back
as the year 1400, originally meaning ‘a favorable thought, an
expression of gratitude.’ Countless songs have been made with
“Thank You” as the lyrical focus. (My faves are those by Dido, Led
Zeppelin and Sly and the Family Stone). You may even recall the
1925 John Ford movie “Thank You.”
As a young son to relatively strict immigrant Italian
parents, I learned to say “thank you” as part of overall ‘good
manners’; a response statement made in appreciation of the
receipt of something (a statement, an emotion, gift, exchange,
etc.). When used with deep sincerity and expression, “thank you”
can have far reaching value and power for not only to those in
your personal life, but also for your business. Take the following
vendor-to-client “thank you” statement, for example:
“Mr. Smith, I just wanted to tell you, on behalf of myself
and the entire team of XYZ Company, that we enjoy doing
business with you and sincerely thank you for your most
recent order, as well as for our ongoing relationship. We
value you as one of XYZ’s most important customers,
we appreciate your business, and, we look forward to
continuing to serve you for a long time…”
It’s true the power of a thank you goes a long way
when you’re defending your business in challenging economic
times and trying to not only maintain a competitive position
but also grow profitable relationships. Best yet, it costs (next
to) nothing and gives you a good excuse to get some face time in
front of your customers (which could lead into an additional or
increased order.) A good “thank you” at the right time might even
circumvent a switch to the competitor.
So, when was the last time you personally thanked a
customer? (Broadcast emails and holiday greetings don’t count.)
How did your customer(s) react? How did it make you feel? Were
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 25
domo arigato Danke Schon
Takk
Thank You
Gracias
Merci
there any noticeable business results? (Did
you get another or an increased order?)
How “Thank You” Fits into Your Customer
Relationship Management Strategy
Customer
Relationship
Management (CRM), as a refresher,
maximizes the value of the customer
relationship to the customer, for the
customer’s benefit and the company’s
profits. Remember that CRM is about
using customer information and engaging
in a dialog. If you’re not speaking
with your customers (and they’re not
responding), it’s not a dialog but rather a
one-way communication. We’ve all heard
the saying: “Out of sight, out of mind” In
business, “out of communication” can
quickly mean “out of orders/sales” for your
company.
CRM is a process of acquiring,
retaining and growing profitable customers. It’s finding ways to add value to the
customer relationship in the customer’s
terms. And, it is a business process that
requires buy-in from the top as well as
sharing of information throughout the entire enterprise.
It would seem that there’s no
better way of supporting the retention,
or loyalty, and growth of a profitable relationship with a customer than simply
stating “I appreciate your business (and
want to continue doing business with
you).”
Recalculating Your Customer ROI
The customer ROI equation
is a simple and effective way to quickly
measure and help optimize your customer
relationships. Simply stated, an Increase
in ROI happens when you add more
customers, increase customer loyalty and
decrease your cost to serve the customer.
+ Customer Acquisition
+ Customer Loyalty
– Cost to Serve Customer
= + ROI
In safeguarding your business
during a recession, thanking customers
as a customer retention strategy—and
defending the customers that are yours-is vital to sustaining business activity.
Thanking customers supports increased
26 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
loyalty and costs (next to) nothing. Hence,
it supports an increased ROI if we were to
apply it to the equation above.
Taking Action
Here are a few suggestions to
immediately reap the benefits of “thank
you”:
»
Personally thank five customers today
in person or over the phone
»
Write ten personal thank-you notes
(making sure to hand address each
of them) to your top customers this
week
»
Overcome
a
difficult
business
situation with a customer by first
saying, “Thank you for your position
on this matter”
»
Offer a reward on a random day to
customers who order from you as a
sign of your appreciation for their
business
If you simply take time to
personally thank your customers, it’s
likely your business will then thank you
for it.
By the way, I’d like to take this
opportunity to thank you for reading this
article. It is valuable readers like you with
a keen interest in bettering the marketing
of your exceptional products or services
that ultimately improves business and our
community as a whole. I look forward to
providing additional materials to support
your business in the future. If there’s
anything I can do to better serve you, please
feel free to contact me at 239.963.9396..›
Angelo Biasi is General Manager of SMART
Marketing Solutions, LLC, a leading full-service
integrated marketing company in Naples, FL. He
has helped create and execute marketing plans
and integrated marketing solutions for companies
such as Playtex, Bic, Rogaine, Tauck, and over 35
colleges and universities, to name a few. Angelo
has an MBA in Marketing from the University
of Connecticut and has taught Marketing at New
York University for over five years. For more information or to learn more, email him at abiasi@
smartmarketingllc.com, visit www.smartmarketingllc.com or call 239.963.9396.
T E C H N O LO GY
Some Ways to Help Your EMR
Implementation Succeed
by Peter J. Polack, M.D. F.A.C.S.
R
ecently I met with colleagues; some practicin physicians
in both Family Practice and Neurology. Neither had
yet gone over to Electronic Medical Records (EMR).
There are two primary reasons that they haven’t gone ahead
with EMR:
1.
Where should I begin? We often wonder this, and
especially so if we have friends or colleagues who
have tried but were unsuccessful at implementing
EMR. Most of the time these are strong efforts
conducted in earnest, though at others the
firms were just going through the motions.
Some teams quit as time wore on, and others
were knocked out of commission. Some
lost time and money on their attempts,
then decided they were done.
2. About thirty to fifty percent of EMR
projects fail. At first, this high figure
surprised me. Then, when asking around
a bit, I’d talk to somebody who’d had a
bad time, or knows someone who has
experienced failure. Especially when
trying to calculate the failure rate,
it becomes difficult to discern
between a ‘true’ failure and an
‘abandonment.’ The latter is
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 27
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the case when the staff simply stop using
the system or trying to implement it. Of
course, whether it is called a true failure or
an abandoned project, the result is similar
in terms of lost time, money, heartache,
and a practice which then still needs to
fall back into reverting to paper medical
records.
Here are some primary causes of
EMR implementation failure:
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Problems with Change
Management
Not Having a Clear Purpose
Some EMR projects are in
trouble from the start. If the future goals
for the system aren’t described and
understood, the chances of forming a good
plan drop. Further, dreamy expectations
with unclear markers further reduces the
chances of survival. When practices don’t
keep a clear watch on the situation, or fail
to get quality help, could have avoided the
problem of having no purpose. What is it
that your practice wants the EMR system
to do? If unsure about what you want,
ultimately, you won’t understand what
the EMR system plan needs to thrive.
Poor Plan and Implementation
Brian A Glaeser, Agent
7385 Radio Road
Naples, FL 34104
Bus: 239-774-0665
[email protected]
trying to squeak by with the cheapest
technology, either. Trying too hard to
control infrastructure costs can backfire
in the end. If your medical practice
is smaller, it may not be advisable to
purchase consumer equipment commonly
available for sale at retail. It’s important to
gather and maintain service agreements,
including back-up servers and switches.
This covers the whole gamut,
between software and hardware issues.
This category covers the entire gamut, from
design and set-up, hardware and software
issues, to roll-out into implementation.
There should be either a dedicated IT
person on-board with the project, or
an outsourced consulting firm to assist
with the plan and implementation.
This assistance could include training
planning, product design, and the stages
of implementation. This category covers
the entire gamut, from design and set-up,
hardware and software issues, to rollout into implementation. Some work
breakdown structure must be in place as
well, to keep things running on track. A
live simulation day is another important
threshold to pass successfully. Together,
these are the components that allow for
success, particularly in crisis situations.
You should plan to experience a few along
the way.
The IT advisor is able to help
with hardware purchases for the network,
meanwhile helping to keep the overall
costs acceptable. I don’t recommend
28 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
Anyone expert in dealing with
proper implementation of IT projects will
tell you. No matter which industry or
area of business we’re talking, everyone
mentions the human factor as the top cause
of failure. EMR isn’t any different. Plenty
of newer physicians have grown up on
technology, even training at institutions
which already use an electronic recordkeeping system. These people don’t miss
a beat. Same is true for young people on
staff who are accustomed to texting and
social networking. However, some of
the more venerable doctors have more of
an adjustment to make. Maybe they’ve
only started using the Internet recently,
and suffer from a technology inferiority
complex.
Workflow
processes
are
also involved in change management.
Inefficiencies in patient care can only be
exacerbated on an electronic platform. The
go-live date is not the date to discover that
the new EMR system doesn’t live up to the
way they’ve always done it before. Proper
technical planning can also help ensure
there is proper ‘fit’ between the practice
needs and the EMR solution. This can
mitigate such failure factors as unrealistic
expectations about the time it will take
to get the EMR working properly, loss of
productivity in the clinic, and inadequate
customization. All of these can lead to
abandonment of the software system and
in a perpetual search for the ‘perfect’ EMR
solution which is never realized.
The resistance to new technology
appears in several ways which include
withdrawal and refusal to participate.
Providing the necessary training for these
staff members is key for preventing a
learning curve from being too steep to
be accomplished before the launch date.
Some older workers could require a lot
of training. The training plan needs to
identify those who are trailing behind or
require more help. For the simulation day,
you will need the ready skills and group
vested interest in success in order to
successfully implement EMR.
Lack of Leadership or
Commitment
Do you have a doctor to champion
the project at your office? Groups of
physicians must reach agreement and
keep things moving along at a healthy
pace; otherwise, even a small glitch
and send things down the wrong path.
The champion doesn’t have to be the
most enthusiastic, but they must have
expressed buy-in and a commitment to
the project. When a practice’s staff start
to feel the dissent coming from above,
it could spread bad juju throughout
the community. You’ll want to avoid a
situation when the workplace becomes a
place of camps divided.
If the project fails, the whole team
fails - not the initial champion of the cause.
A mutinous tone could rise up somewhere
in the group, either one doctor or another
staff member; either way, it is someone who
will actively work against the project. The
champion needs to find out and re-direct
the circumstances in this case, stopping it
there before the influences travel too deep
into the organization. Communication
lines should be functioning well, with
meetings scheduled before, during, and
after the date of EMR launch. The system
must change to address a problem before
users start to become de-motivated and
give up hope.
.›
CHAMBER MEMBERS:
Get TheBest Seat
InTheHouse!
CC
COLLIER
In celebration of our new partnership with The Greater
Naples Chamber of Commerce, we invite you to take
advantage of special pricing for the exclusive Collier Club.
C • L • U • B
Enjoy tournament action with host Greg Norman and 23 of
the PGA TOUR’s best golfers at the 2009 Shark Shootout in the Collier
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Special Pricing for Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce Members:
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Peter J. Polack, M.D., F.A.C.S., is founder of
emedikon, a medical practice management
consulting firm and president of Protodrone, a
software development company specializing in
medical practice applications. He is managing
partner of Ocala Eye, a large multi-specialty
ophthalmology practice. See: http://www.
medicalpracticetrends.com for more info.
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For more information contact your local Chamber representative
or purchase tickets at www.napleschamber.org
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 29
The Chamber Scrapook
2009 Leadership Collier Kickoff
@ Sugden Theater
September 10, 2009
Clay Brooker, Mark Iannarelli and Jospeh Cunningham
Ann and Joe Zaks and Michelle Gleason
Teresa Morgenstern, Trsita Meister and Shelly Lund
Toni Sparkman, Jim Warnken, Erika Hinson and Larry Ray
30 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
Mary and Clay Cone
Will Elliott, Connie Byrne and Louise Stewart
Specialized care for the littlest patients in need.
From the care of premature infants to emergency services and life-saving treatments,
The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida is here for our region’s children. Whether it’s a
complex piece of equipment or a simple explanation, the staff has the unique advantage over
other area hospitals armed with the tools and training needed to treat the smallest members of our
community. The pediatric cancer program has expertly offered specialized care without the burden
of families having to travel distances at some of life’s most difficult turns.
And when it comes to saving prematurely born infants, The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida
is the #1, top-rated program in the state boasting the best survival rate among all 11 certified Level
III neonatal intensive care centers in Florida’s Regional Perinatal Intensive Care Program.
Children come first here. We’re your children’s hospital.
World class health care is closer than you think.
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Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 31
New Chamber Members
Al Deleon & Associates, Inc.
Mr. Al Deleon
4060 Tamiami Trail N., Suite 5
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 261-3800
www.aldeleoninsurance.com
Bottoms Up!-Liquor and Wine
Mr. Tim Hovorica
881 Vanderbilt Beach Road
Naples, FL 34108
(239) 593-6180
www.bottomsupnaples.com
BRAVO! Cucina Italiana
Mr. Chris Prince
9110 Strada Place
Naples, FL 34103
www.BravoItalian.com
Clear Channel Airport
Mr. Ernie Dojack
4635 Cracksport Rd
Allentown, PA 18104
(800) 628 6800
Countryside Golf & Country Club
Ms. Mary Groesser
600 Countryside Drive
Naples, FL 34104
(239) 348-1748
www.countrysidegcc.net
Exclusive Destination
Management
Ms. Melanie Delaney
575 Henley Dr.
Naples, FL 34104
(239) 405-8088
www.exclusivedm.com
Friendly Hearts Senior
Services, LLC
Mrs. Nicole Jessup
2338 Immokalee Rd. # 432
Naples, FL 34110
(239) 353-4844
www.friendlyheartsfl.com
GO Environmental
Ms. Tina Feola
203 Broad St., Unit C10
Milford, CT 06460
(203) 876-1007
www.go-environmental.com
Harbour Risk Management
Mr. Michael S. Lambers
801 Anchor Rode Dr. # 103
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 354-4053
www.hrm.us
Information Centers International
Mr. John Galanti
775 95th Avenue North
32 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
Naples, FL 34108
(239) 692-1006
www.informationcentersinternational.com
Interiors by Decorating Den
Ms. Claudia Leah
6062 Taylor Rd., Unit 501
Naples, FL 34109
(239) 431-5936
www.decdens.com/claudialeah
Jets Pizza-Naples
Mr. Thomas Jakubczak
3400 Radio Road, Suite 103
Naples, FL 34101
(239) 434 5389
www.jetspizza.com
Robyn Cox,
Reverse Mortgage Consultant
Ms. Robyn Cox
(239) 687 6974
Music for Minors Foundation
Ms. Elsie Hawkings
1415 Panther Lane
Naples, FL 34103
Naples International
Film Festival
Rowan Samuel
720 Belair Court
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 348-8852
www.naplesfilmfestival.com
Nova Southeastern University
Mr. Joe Pepe
3650 Colonial Court
Ft. Myers, FL 33913
(239) 384-9259
www.nova.edu
Prudential Financial
Ms. Alex Casola
9160 Forum Corp. Parkway,
Bldg 2., Suite 210
Ft. Myers, FL 33905
(239) 896-1264
Public Relations, Marketing &
Advertising Professionals of
Collier County (PRACC)
Ms. Nancy Dagher
Po Box 9063
Naples, FL 34101
www.pracc.org
RedBrick Pizza
Ms. Carol Trombino
6355 Naples Blvd.
Naples, FL 34109
(239) 514-3900
www.redbrickpizza.com
Rose Auction Group LLC
Ms. Sara Rose
4137 Bay Beach Lane, Suite 564
Ft. Myers, FL 33931
(239) 463-6330
www.roseauctiongroup.com
Stanco Robinson &
Pendley, LLP
Mr. Eric Stanco
2390 Tamiami Trail N., Suite 216
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 263-7755
www.srplegal.com
Stewart Law Firm, PLC
Ms. Pamela Stewart
780 Fifth Avenue S., Suite 200
Naples, FL 34102
(239) 261-9630
The Riner Group, Inc.
Mr. Ronald N. Riner, MD
5811 Pelican Bay Blvd., Suite 210
Naples, FL 34108
(239) 592-0422
www.rinergroup.com
The Woodruff Institute, LLC
Mr. Jonathan Sonne MD
2235 Venetian Court, Unit 1
Naples, FL 34109
(239) 596 9337
www.TheWoodruffInsitute.com
Did You Know?
We’re on
Facebook
and Twitter!
Be our
“friend”
and we Will
“follow”
you, too!
@GNCOC
And We Now Have a
Members only group
on LinkedIn!
Search Greater
Naples Chamber of
Commerce Member
Group
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 33
R E N E W I N G M E M B E R s - H a p p y C hamber A nniversary !
Adams Bros. Cabinetry, Inc.
8079 Golf Course Blvd.
Punta Gorda, FL 33982
(941) 639-7188
www.adamsbro.com
Allstate - Renee Moisan
9180 Galleria Court, Suite 300
Naples, FL 34109
(239) 597-5551
http://agent.allstate.com/reneem/welcome
American Business
Women’s Association
P. O. Box 10653
Naples, FL 34101
(239) 513-4652
www.abwaneapolitan.org
American Laser Centers
4655 Tamiami Trail North
Naples, FL 34103
(248) 426-8250
www.americanlaser.com
Arthur Rutenberg Homes/
ARBC Corp.
5645 Strand Blvd.
Naples, FL 34110
(239) 597-1120
www.arhomes.com
Automated Shading
Contractors, Inc.
1458 Rail Head Blvd.
Naples, FL 34110
(239) 594-9595
www.automatedshading.com
Axa Advisors South
Florida Branch
4769530 Market Place Rd., Suite 101
Ft. Myers, FL 33912
(239) 225-6560
www.southflorida.axa-advisors.com
Bank of America
4501 Tamiami Trail N Ste 400
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 659-2279
www.bankofamerica.com
Bentley Village, A Classic
Residence by Hyatt
704 Village Circle
Naples, FL 34110
(239) 597-1121
www.hyattclassic.com
(239) 403-0815
www.hereforthekids.org
Brian A. Glaeser/
State Farm Insurance
7385 Radio Road, Suite 104A
Naples, FL 34104
(239) 775-0665
www.statefarm.com
Catholic Charities
2210 Santa Barbara Blvd
Naples, FL 34116
(239) 455-2655
www.catholiccharitiescc.org
CHS Healthcare
1454 Madison Avenue
Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3126
www.collier.org
Coldwell Banker Residential
Real Estate, Inc.
550 5th Ave S.
Naples, FL 34102
(239) 262-7131
www.floridamoves.com
CONE Communications
Company
760 Belair Court
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 262-8229
Conservancy of Southwest
Florida
1450 Merrihue Drive
Everglades City, FL 34102
(239) 262-0304
www.conservancy.org
Corkscrew Swamp/National
Audubon Society
375 Sanctuary Road West
Naples, FL 34120
(239) 348-9151
www.corkscrew.audubon.org
Coverall of Southwest Florida
PO Box 61671
Ft. Myers, FL 33906
(239) 768-6000
www.coverall.com
Creative Marketing Services
10040 Valiant Court - #201
Ft. Myers, FL 33913
(239) 357-0805
www.mysalespromotion.com
Bibby Enterprises, LLC
1905 Imperial Golf Course Blvd.
Naples, FL 34110
Phone: 239-293-4518
www.BibbyEnterprises.com
Crifasi Real Estate, Inc.
2375 Tamiami Trl N, Ste 208C
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 594-7000
Big Brothers Big Sisters of
Southwest FL Inc.
501 Goodlette Road, Suite C-204
Naples, FL 34102
D.R. Horton
13880 Treeline Avenue S., Suite 3
Ft. Myers, FL 33913
(239) 225-2600
34 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
www.drhorton.com
David Lawrence Center
6075 Bathey Lane
Naples, FL 34116
239-435-8500
www.davidlawrencecenter.org
Endless Summer RV Estates
2 Tina Lane
Naples, FL 34104
(239) 643-1511
Fleming’s Prime Steak House
8985 Tamiami Trail N.
Naples, FL 34108
(239) 598-2424
www.flemingssteakhouse.com
Florida Eye Health Dr. Jonathan Frantz
2100 Tamiami Trail North
Naples, FL 34102
(239) 430-3939
www.bettervision.net
Forge Engineering, Inc.
6200 Shirley St Ste 204
Naples, FL 34109
(239) 514-4100
Friends of Rookery Bay
672 Kendall Drive
Marco Island, FL 34145
(239) 417-6310
www.rookerybay.org
Friends of the Florida Panther
Refuge c/o Fish & Wildlife
Service
3860 Tollgate Blvd.
Naples, FL 34114
(239) 289-2847
www.floridapanther.org
Gulf Coast Runners, Inc.
PO Box 8636
Naples, FL 34101
(239) 434-9786
www.gcrunner.org
Healthy Start Coalition of
SW Florida, Inc.
1922 Victoria Ave., Ste B
Ft. Myers, FL 33901
(239) 425-6920
www.healthystartswfl.com
Hoosier Wa-Wa Company, Inc.
5256 Hickory Wood Drive
Naples, FL 34119
(239) 403-9292
www.hoosierwawa.com
Jaguar Data Systems
6371-2 Arc Way
Ft. Myers, FL 33966
(239) 277-0555
www.jaguardata.com
JFS Wealth Advisors
1479 North Hermitage Road
Hermitage, PA 16148
(239) 591-6245
www.jfswa.com
Literacy Volunteers of
Collier County
281 Airport Road South
Naples, FL 34104
(239) 262-4448
www.collierliteracy.org
M&I Wealth Management
800 Laurel Oak Dr, Ste 101
Naples, FL 34108
(239) 597-2933
www.mibank.com
Mail Station Courier
501 Goodlette Rd. N., #C-210
Naples, FL 34102
(239) 436-3910
Moorings Park Retirement
Community
120 Moorings Park Dr
Naples, FL 34105
239-643-9111
www.mooringspark.org
Naples Cultural Landscape
2400 Tamiami Trail #300
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 594-2978
www.Naplesbackyardhistory.org
Naples Payroll Company, LLC
15205 Collier Blvd. Ste 206
Naples, FL 34119
(239) 566-3888
www.naplespayroll.com
Plocharczyk and Associates
6240 Shirley Street, Suite 203
Naples, FL 34109
(239) 592-1699
PNC Wealth Management
3003 Tamiami Trl N., Ste 100
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 514-2480
www.pncadvisors.com
Rembrandt Painting Inc
5477 Yahl St.
Naples, FL 34109
(239) 513-9831
www.rembrandtpaintinc.com
South Florida Water Management
District
2640 Golden Gate Parkway Ste 205
Naples, FL 34105
(239) 597-1505
www.sfwmd.gov
St. Elizabeth Seton School
2730 53rd Terrace SW
Naples, FL 34116
(239) 304-0990
www.saintelizabethseton.com
Stewart Title
3936 Tamiami Trl N Ste A
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 262-2163
www.midwesttitle.com
Storm Force LLC
4730 Enterprise Ave # 310
Naples, FL 34104
(239) 261-5495
www.StormForce1.com
Naples Valet, Inc.
4645 5th Avenue SW
Naples, FL 34119
(239) 250-6605
www.finsecurity.com
Subway SW Regional
Development, Inc.
2626 Tamiami Trl E #3
Naples, FL 34112
(239) 417-8515
www.trianon.com
North Naples Fire Control
& Rescue District
1885 Veterans Park Dr
Naples, FL 34109
(239) 597-3222
www.northnaplesfire.com
Swamp Buggy Inc.
P.O. Box 990010
Naples, FL 34116
(239) 774-2701
www.swampbuggy.com
Owen Ames Kimball
6310 Trail Blvd.
Naples, FL 34108
(239) 596-0291
www.owen-ames-kimball.com
Physicians Regional
Healthcare System
6101 Pine Ridge Rd
Naples, FL 34119
(239) 348-4000
www.physiciansregional.com
Synovus Bank
8850 Tamiami Trail North
Naples, FL 34108
(239) 597-8989
www.synovusbankfl.com
Terranova
5811 Pelican Bay Blvd. Ste. 205
Naples, FL 34108
(239) 514-7700
www.terranovacorp.com
The Naples Winery
1200 5th Avenue South
Naples, FL 34102
(239) 732-9463
www.thenapleswinery.com
The O’Dell Group of Morgan
Stanley - SCOTT E. O’DELL
800 Laurel Oak Drive, Suite 400
Naples, FL 34108
(239) 598-7910
The Village on Venetian Bay
4200 Gulf Shore Blvd N
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 261-6100
http://naples.com/village/default.html
The Weatherburn Gallery
452 Bayfront Place
Naples, FL 34102
(239) 263-8008
www.weatherburn.com
Titan Custom Homes, Inc.
3927 Arnold Ave
Naples, FL 34104
(239) 435-0301
www.titancustomhomes.com
Turn Key Construction
2316 Pine Ridge Road #331
Naples, FL 34109
239-254-1990
www.turnkeyconstructionnaples.com
United States Postal
Service - Naples
1200 Goodlette Road N.
Naples, FL 34102
(239) 435-2151
www.usps.gov
Vanderbilt Mortgage Group, LLC
11983 Tamiami Trail N., Suite 138
Naples, FL 34110
(239) 594-6999
www.vanderbilt-mortgage.com
Volunteer Collier, Inc.
553 Galleon Drive
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 250-5000
www.Volunteercollier.org
WCI Tiburon
2620 Tiburon Drive
Naples, FL 34109
(239) 594-7900
www.tiburongcnaples.com
Wynn’s Market
1090 1st Avenue South
Naples, FL 34102
(239) 649-7272
www.wynnsonline.com
Youth Haven, Inc./Youth Haven
Foundation
5867 Whitaker Rd
Naples, FL 34112
(239) 774-2904
www.youthhaven.net
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 35
YOUR FIRST STOP!
i
Center
The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce
VISITOR INFORMATION
2390 Tamiami Trail North
239.262.6141
napleschamber.org
Hours: Monday through Friday
9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Saturday
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Closed Sunday
Located on the East side of US 41 North, 2 blocks north of Coastland Center Mall
36 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
Al Deleon & Associates Inc.
4060 Tamiami Trail N., Suite 5
Naples, FL 34103
Al Deleon & Associates is an
independently owned and operated
insurance agency that specializes
in auto, homeowners, commercial
insurance and life insurance since
1998. We have three offices to serve
our customers in Collier and Lee
County. Our friendly staff can provide
both English and Spanish assistance
for your convenience.
Concierge, and Handyman services.
Serving both Collier & Lee counties,
we focus on quality of life and are
committed to providing personalized
care that will help seniors remain living
as happily, safely, and independently
as possible.
Go Beyond Network
Naples,FL
Go Beyond Network brings together a
group of private accredited investors
dedicated to providing early stage
capital with entrepreneurs seeking
Ardent Manor
investment capital. Our goal is to make
2900 Tamiami Trail N.
the angel investing process easier and
Naples, FL 34103
more accessible for investors while
Ardent Manor will provide its guests helping to grow the community’s
with physical, mental and emotional economic base.
stimulation and socialization by
facilitating an array of activities for
residents of Naples and South Florida. Information Centers International
Activities include art, music and pet 778 95th Avenue North
therapy along with activities that Naples, FL 34108
will stimulate memory, creativity and Information Centers International has
thought. Ardent manor enables guests over 20 Touch Screen Kiosk in the
to maintain dignified and meaningful Naples area, located in hotels, malls,
lives while remaining in their own shopping area, Naples Airport, Naples
homes and communities.
pier, other high traffic, and high
visibility areas. We provide up-to-date
Collier County Dental Association
information on local area restaurants,
PO Box 111298
attractions, shopping, real estate and
Naples, FL 34108
more. Call today to get your business
The Collier County Dental Association noticed!
(CCDA) is a professional organization
representing Florida-licensed dentists Interiors by Decorating Den
practicing in Collier County. Founded 6062 Taylor Rd., Unit 501
in 1973, members of the CCDA are Naples, FL 34109
committed to providing the highest Claudia and Joe Leah are Naples
level of quality care to patients owners of Decorating Den, a national
throughout the county.
full-service
interior
decorating
franchise. Clients receive the very
Countryside Golf & Country Club
latest in fabrics, window treatments,
600 Countryside Drive
furniture and more, all with a friendly
Naples, FL 34104
experience in the comfort and lighting
Countryside is a resident owned gated of their home or office. Consultations
golf community that is care free, are complimentary and available in
affordable and secure, surrounded English, German or French.
by both country charm and city
conveniences. Our private community Marr Advertising & Design, LLC
is nestled among hundreds of tropical 2340 Periwinkle Way
trees and a 70 par 18 holes golf course. Sanibel, FL
Our community offers 1,133 residential MAD Naples can help you business
units, including 221 detached single grow with cutting edge marketing.
family homes.
Our mission – to increase our client’s
profits with results oriented approach
Discount Prescription Services
to marketing, advertising, graphic
1317 Milano Dr.
design & public relations. Together we
Naples, FL 34103
get your business moving in the right
Discount Prescription Services is a direction. Whether it’s a one-time
full service pharmacy. Employers project or a marketing make over – we
may offer cards at no cost to them, can help.
to employees. They just call the toll
free number on the card and use Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites
the ID number to get free quotes. Downtown
Almost always they will find cheaper 1785 Fifth Avenue South
medication for you from International Naples, FL 34102
qualified pharmacies.
We invite you to take a closer look at
the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in
Exclusive Destination Management Downtown Naples. We are the perfect
575 Henley Drive
destination for business travel with our
Naples, FL 34104
desirable location at the corner of 5th
Exclusive Destination Management Avenue South & Davis blvd. Down the
(EDM) is a full service destination street from the world class shopping
management company with offices & dinning on 5th Avenue, Third Street
in Naples and Orlando and DMC and the Bayfront shops.
affiliates in Miami and Palm Beach.
Our services include full service Naples International Film Festival
ground transportation, recreational Naples, FL
activities and tours off-property NIFF will showcase the finest and most
venues including the coveted “Collier creative cinematic works in the works
Collection”, entertainment and décor in the world while at the same time
production and team building events. supporting, organizing and providing
and outlet for local filmmakers and
film lovers in Southwest Florida.
Friendly Hearts Senior
November 5-8, 2009.
Services, LLC
Naples, FL
Nova Southeastern University
Friendly Hearts offers a multitude 3650 Colonial Court
of non-medical, assistance oriented Ft. Myers, FL 33913
services
including
Companion, Nova Southeastern University has
expanded its Southwest Florida
facility to meet the needs of a growing
community. Since 1964, NSU has been
developing academic programs to meet
the needs of a growing community.
Evening, weekend, and online classes
are available to suit your needs. The
center is located on the SE corner of
Colonial Blvd and Interstate 75.
Progressive Employer Services
Naples, FL
As a leading Professional Employer
Organization, PES can help you as a
business owner focus on what you
know best - running your business.
We provide payroll administration,
workers’
compensation,
risk
management,
human
resource
expertise,
employee
benefits,
unemployment claims management
and guidance on current labor laws.
It’s like having your own human
resources staff!
RedBrick Pizza
6355 Naples Blvd
Naples, FL 34109
RedBrick Pizza “The New Italian” It
all began centuries ago when only the
finest pizzas were baked in a brick
oven. Today, our RedBrick terra cotta
oven uses technology to fire-roast
pizza at 1,000 degrees. Then we added
new, exciting recipes. Please join us
for a taste of “The New Italian” in a
comfortable, modern setting.
Simple Clip Coupons
PO Box 112213
Naples, FL 34108
Publishers of coupon directories.
These are distributed free, twice
a year to 20,000 consumers. It is a
handy size, glossy, indexed, perfed
(no scissor!). Your display ad stays
indexed even after coupon is used.
The Farrell, Prindle & Montalbano
Group of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
4855 Technology Way, Suite 400
Boca Raton, FL 33431
The Farrell, Prindle & Montalbano
Group of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. has
been servicing the high net worth and
medical communities of Southeast &
west Florida for over 60 combined
years. We provide comprehensive
wealth management services with the
highest standards of objectivity and
integrity.
The Shark Shootout
9130 Galleria Court, Suite 118
Naples, FL 34109
The Shark Shootout returns to Tiburon
Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Golf
Resort, Naples for the 9th consecutive
year. December 9-13, 2009. This
charitable PGA Tour event hosted by
World Golf Hall of Fame member Greg
Norman features 24 professionals
playing in a team format and is
broadcast nationally on NBC and
Golf Channel. For more information,
call 888-66SHARK or visit www.
thesharkshootout.com
The Woodruff Institute, LLC
2235 Venetian Court. Unit 1
Naples, FL 34105
The Woodruff Institute in Naples,
Florida brings together, under
one roof, state of the art facial
aesthetic
surgery,
dermatology,
and reconstructive surgery. Having
dermatology and facial plastic surgery
in one practice uniquely allows all
medical skin care and cosmetic needs
to be met.
N
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w
M
e
m
b
e
r
S
p
o
t
l
i
g
h
t
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 37
ribbon c u ttings
Support our local
Chamber member
businesses!
Robinson Visual Health & Optical Center - 6345 Naples Blvd., Suite A-2, Naples 34109
• Supporting our local
member businesses helps
produce more income, jobs
and tax receipts for our
community.
• Local member businesses
are more likely to utilize local
banks and other services.
Progressive Employer Services - 3379 Timberwood Circle, Naples 34105
• Local businesses donate
more money to non-profits
and are more accountable to
our community.
• Making local purchases
reduces the need to ship
goods from thousands of miles
away, making it a “Greener”
practice as well!
Chamber member businesses,
including retail, goods,
services, and restaurants can
be found on our website at
www.napleschamber.org
Keep it in Greater
Naples Buy Local!
Sutter Roofing Co. of SW Florida - 3927 Exchange Avenue, Naples 34104
Collier CPR and Safety Training - 3823 Tamiami Trail East #276, Naples 34112
38 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 39
BusinessBriefs
A look at what’s happening in the business community
The food, the wine, the beach...
no wonder we’re their favorite restaurant.
Enjoy fresh
regional seafood
and delicious
specials at
Naples’ only
beachfront
restaurant.
Make us
your tradition
Bring this ad
and receive a
Complimentary
Bottle of Wine*
Call for Reservations
435.4347
2005-2009
851 Gulf Shore Boulevard North
Start your tradition at NaplesBeachHotel.com
*Complimentary bottle of select wine, or dessert and coffee for two, with the purchases of two dinner entrées.
Present this ad to your server when ordering. Not valid holidays or with any other discount. Expires 12/23/09.
NBH22916 Currents Ad.indd 1
8/11/09 11:09:31 AM
40 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
The Education Foundation with
Connect with A Classroom grant awards
– 124 grants, in 43 schools, totaling almost
$58,000.
Naples Botanical Garden’s resident
Botanist and Herbarium Curator, Dr.
George Wilder, has collected his 30,000th
specimen for the Herbarium of Southwest
Florida that resides at the Garden.
The
ABWA
Annual
Holiday
Celebration
will be held Tuesday,
November 17 at the Naples Hilton from
6:00 to 10:00 pm.
The von Liebig Art Center has
launched a “Bring a Buddy” program to
reward students.
Betty
Maclean
Travel,
Inc
participated at Travel Mart 2009, the
annual conference hosted by leading
luxury travel network, Virtuoso®.
Christopher Detzler, won $3,577.519.11
on a $5 Wheel of Fortune slot machine at
the Seminole Casino Immokalee setting
a new jackpot record in Florida.
The Community Foundation will
hold the 7th Annual Professional Advisors
Conference October 27.
Wilhelm has retained B-Squared
Advertising as its agency of record.
Everglades and Dry Tortugas
National Park are incorporating
technologies in communications and
outreach efforts to reach a broader
audience.
The United Arts Council announced
the schedule of events for the 2009
Celebrate the Arts Month.
CHS Healthcare has been awarded
two targeted federal grants.
Coldwell
Banker
Residential
Real Estate urges potential first-time
homebuyers to allow enough time for
closing to secure $8,000 tax credit.
Billie Swamp Safari is offering 50
percent off the regular ticket price of
a Swamp Buggy Eco-Tour if you come
dressed in a Halloween costume the
entire month of October.
Countryside Golf & Country Club
announces a real estate section has been
added to their website at countrysidegcc.
net.
October at the Edison & Ford
Winter Estates is highlighted with the
return of the Estates Clothesline Quilt
Show and Airing of the Quilts as well as
a variety of other special programs.
The 18th annual Florida Gulf Coast
University Founder’s Cup is scheduled
to be played Monday, Oct. 12 at The Club
at Mediterra in North Naples.
Fall enrollment is at an all-time high
at Hodges University.
The Ritz-Carlton Resorts of Naples
announced Naples Transportation
& Tours as their preferred provider of
transportation services for groups and
individual travelers.
“Spa Mini Retreats” are now being
offered at The Spa at The Naples Beach
Hotel & Golf Club.
Naples Zoo is offering Florida
residents an online coupon for 50% off
tickets through November 8, 2009.
Saint Elizabeth Seton School
is pleased to announce an increase in
student enrollment.
Paradise Advertising & Marketing
announced an outstanding showing at
the 2009 Flagler Awards.
Johnny Bench, Major League Baseball
Hall of Famer, will have top billing at
the two-day Ave Maria University Golf
Classic on November 5-6.
Bentley Village announced that its
Home Care Team recently underwent the
annual survey by the Florida Agency for
Health Care and is deficiency free.
Residence Inn Naples they have
partnered with St. Matthew’s House to
begin an ongoing effort to collect nonperishable food, toiletry items, and cash
donations, which will be used to feed and
assist those in need.
Hill, Barth & King LLC (HBK),
Certified Public Accountants and
Business Consultants, is pleased to
announce they are celebrating their 60th
Anniversary.
The Shelter for Abused Women
& Children’s Options Thrift Shoppe
recently received three top honors in the
2009 Southwest Florida Choice Awards
hosted by the Naples Daily News.
Naples Botanical Garden, Inc. is
was named as a finalist for Rain Bird’s
2009 Intelligent use of water leadership
award..›
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 41
The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce
Your affordable resource for
profitable growth
in tough times.
Now more than ever, you need to
leverage every resource available
to help your business succeed.
By joining The Chamber, you’ll
gain a competitive edge from a
wealth of benefits:
• Networking and new business
contacts to help your business grow
• Save money via discounts
and programs
• Targeted, effective and affordable
advertising to help you advertise
effectively on a small budget
• Learning opportunities and
professional development
• Enhance your leadership skills
• Provide a voice for the business
community through public
policy efforts
Work smarter. Profit faster. Join now.
Call 239.403.2906 today.
2390 Tamiami Trail North Suite 210
Naples, FL 34103
42 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
www.NaplesChamber.org
Transitions
Who’s Who in the Business Community
Michele Harrison, Broker Associate
with John R. Wood, Inc., has been
recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for
demonstrating dedication, leadership and
excellence in real estate.
CHS
Healthcare
executives
announced the promotion of Dr. Kelley
P. Johnson, DMD, as the new Dental
Director.
Grant, Fridkin, Pearson, Athan &
Crown announced Rachael S. Loukonen
was appointed to the Board for the Collier
County Bar Association Trial Lawyers
Section.
The David Lawrence Center
announced Mary Ann Guerra has been
promoted to Director of Acute Care and
Nursing Services.
Bank of Florida has named Kathi
Zanella senior vice president, treasury
management sales manager, and Kathleen
Karpovich has joined the staff as vice
president, treasury management division.
TIB Bank announced the appointment
of Elaine L. Ramirez as Credit Officer,
Real Estate Specialist and Walter P.
Roberts as Vice President, Workout
Officer.
The Children’s Advocacy Center of
Collier County announced Gail Tunnock
has been elected Florida Chapter President
of the Supervised Visitation Network.
Lindsey
LaCroix has joined
Kensington Golf and Country Club as
the Marketing Director.
The 2009-10 Board of Directors for
The Education Foundation are: Claudine
Léger-Wetzel; Susan Healy; Greg
Hunter; Trish Biebricher; Mary Lynn Hill,
Immediate Past Chair; Helen Athan;
Linda Flewelling; Kaleigh Grover; Alan
Horton; Alan Korest; Dianne MayberryHatt; Greg Pasanen; Kevin Rooney;
Ann Rowe; Bob Sandy; Julie Sprague;
Dennis Thompson; Sandy Waite.
Robert Mulhere, Senior Vice
President of RWA, Inc. has been
named Chairman Elect of the Economic
Development Council.
Richard C. Grant of Grant Fridkin
Pearson Athan & Crown, P.A. has been
appointed to The Real Estate Certification
Committee of The Florida Bar. ›
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 43
Chamber Calendar of Events
...............................................................
Thursday, October 1st
11:30 am to 1:00 pm
Accelerated Networking
Luncheon
McCormick & Schmick’s
Seafood Restaurant
9114 Strada Place (Mercato)
Registration Deadline is
September 25th - No Walk-ins
will be admitted
$15
“Philosophy of Networking”
Location: The Chamber Bldg.
2nd Floor, LCF Room
Presenters: Matthew Klinowski
and Jessica Macera
$15
Saturday, October 10th
11:30 am
Executive Club Event: Lunch
With Greg Norman
Location: Ritz-Carlton Golf
Resort, Naples
9114 Strada Place (Mercato)
Registration in advance only
$50
9:00 am to 12:30 pm
Quick Books Basics
Co-Sponsored with SCORE
Naples
Location: The Chamber Bldg.
2nd Floor, LCF Room
Presenters: Peggy Maltarich,
CPA, Treasurer of SCORE
Naples chapter and Cheryl
Willett of Willett Business
Management, Inc.
Complimentary, but please
register in advance
Saturday, October 3rd
Tuesday, October 13th
Friday, October 2nd
9:00 am to 12:30 pm
Secrets of Successful
Businesswomen
Co-Sponsored with SCORE
Naples
Location: The Chamber Bldg.
2nd Floor, LCF Room
Presenters: Carol Marlow,
Elisabeth Nassberg and Nikole
Stillman of Just Like Family
Home Care, Gail Markham
of Markham Norton Mosteller
Wright & Co., Sheri Johnson of
Advanced Collision Specialists
and Pamela Lazarto of Pulse
Magazine
Complimentary, but please
register in advance
Wednesday, October 7th
11:30 am
The 2009 Distinguished Public
Service Awards
Location: The Hilton Naples
5111 Tamiami Trail N.
$40.00 in advance
Thursday, October 8th
8:00 am to 9:30 am
Advanced Networking Part I
11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Social Media Series #4:
Creating Movement, now what
do you do?
Location: The Chamber Bldg.
2nd Floor, LCF Room
Presenter: Cyndee Woolley,
C2 Communications
$15
October 2009
Thursday, October 22nd
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Executive Club Event: Hot Topic
Sponsored by Blue Cross/Blue
Shield of Florida
Topic: Healthcare
Panel discussion: Dr. Alan Weiss
(NCH Healthcare System),
Geoff Moebius (Physicians
Regional Healthcare System),
and a representative for Blue
Cross/Blue Shield
Wine & Cheese Reception
Open to Executive Club
Members only in advance
Saturday, October 24th
9:00 am to 12:30 pm
Reengineering Your Business
Model
Co-Sponsored with SCORE
Naples
Location: The Chamber Bldg.
2nd Floor, LCF Room
Presenter: Noel Osborne,
SCORE Naples counselor
Complimentary, but please
register in advance
Tuesday, October 27th
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Business After 5
Location: Encore Bank
$5 in advance, $10 at the door
and future members (limit two
events); $25 non members
8:00 am to 10:00 am
Business Education Seminar
Location: The Chamber Bldg.
2nd Floor, LCF Room
Presenter: Tom Spinelli
Topic: Don’t Run out of Money!
Understanding business cash
flow
$5.00 Members, $25.00 Non
Members
Wednesday, October 21st
Tuesday, October 28th
Thursday, October 15th
7:30 am
Wake Up Naples!
Location: The Hilton Naples
5111 Tamiami Trail N.
Speaker: SW Florida District
liaison from the FBI
$20.00 in advance, $25.00 at
the door and Future Members
(limit two events for future
members)
$45.00 non members
44 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
11:30 am to 1:00 pm
Chamber Alliance
Location: The Chamber Bldg.
2nd Floor, LCF Room
Speaker, Jeff Ahren, Co-Chair
of the Foreclosure Task Force
Topic: Update on the
Foreclosure situation in Collier
County and progress made in
the effort to assist those facing
foreclosure
$10
................................................................
November 2009
8:00 am to 10:00 am
Business Education Seminar
Location: The Chamber Bldg.
2nd Floor, LCF Room
Presenter: John Haas, Management
Strategies Group
Topic: Performance-Based Incentives:
An “Everyone Wins” Approach to Paying
Employees
$5.00 Members, $25.00 Non Members
Tuesday, November 17th
8:00 am to 10:00 am
Business Education Seminar
Location: Conditioned Air Corporation
of Naples, Inc. 3786 Mercantile Avenue
Presenters: Skip Camp and Theo Etzell
Topic: Running a “Green” Business
$5.00 Members, $25.00 Non Members
Wednesday, November 18th
7:30 am
Wake Up Naples!
Thursday, November 5th
Location: The Hilton Naples
11:30 am to 1:00 pm
5111 Tamiami Trail N.
Accelerated Networking Luncheon
Presenter: Florida Chamber Foundation
The Island Pub
Topic: 2030 Project, an initiative that will
600 Neapolitan Way
design and mobilize the state around a
Registration Deadline is October 30th - No twenty year strategic vision for Florida’s
Walk-ins will be admitted
future.
$15
$20.00 in advance, $25.00 at the door and
Future Members (limit two events for future
Wednesday, November 11
members)
12:00 pm
$45.00 non members
Executive Club Luncheon
Location: The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf
Thursday, November 19th
Club
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Presenter: Mr. Rick Scott, national expert
Business After 5
on Healthcare reform
Location: The Naples Daily News, Immokalee
Registration in advance only
Road
$30
$5 in advance, $10 at the door and future
members (limit two events); $25 non
Thursday, November 12th
members
8:00 am to 9:30 am
Advanced Networking Part 2
“Mechanics of Networking”
Location: The Chamber Bldg.
2nd Floor, LCF Room
Presenters: Matthew Klinowski and Jessica
Macera
$15
Register for all events at
www.napleschamber.org
Chamber Calendar of Events
Tuesday, November 3rd
Chamber Calendar of Events
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 45
Plan On The VIP Treatment.
Support our local economy by picking up a VIP Card at any area Visitor Center.
You’ll enjoy more than $3,000 in savings on shopping, dining and entertainment
throughout Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades. Details on offers and where
you can save are right on the card. For more information, please call 239-262-6141.
Area Visitor Centers: 2390 Tamiami Trail North | 800 Fifth Avenue South, Suite 103
46 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org I Business Currents I OCTOBER 2009 47
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48 OCTOBER 2009 I Business Currents I Visit Us Online at www.napleschamber.org
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