Why does CSD have a government pod?

The Customer Support & Delivery (CSD) government pod is a dedicated resource for one of Cook Medical’s largest customer base. Jeff McClaine, government account manager and a member of the four-person team, provided insight into the pod’s role with Cook customers, field representatives, and CSD.

What is the CSD government pod’s purpose?

We are here to support and help CSD be more efficient and effective in assisting our government customers, Veterans Affairs (VA), and military medical centers. Additionally, within Cook, we serve as a specific resource to help our field-based employees connect to our government customers.

Our government customers have different needs than our commercial customers, and so by having a specialized pod, we can work to meet those specific needs to best support them. One specific need is that the VA supply chain is divided into two purchasing divisions: prosthetics and logistics. Each division operates a little differently so knowing that difference is important. For example, items like our Zenith Fenestrated grafts or other implants would be purchased by the prosthetics department. They have a very specific pre-authorization process that must be followed in order to walk-in the product. If anything is not followed according to their process it makes it much more difficult to get paid.

Why dedicate a resource to this particular customer?

As a whole, VA facilities and military hospitals make up Cook’s largest customer, and during our transformation, Cook saw a real need to focus and support them by providing a dedicated resource. The government customers have a lot of unique needs around their supply chain that we don’t see with our commercial customers. By having this dedicated resource, I think it helps everyone understand how to do business more successfully with the government. We are also able to help identify new business opportunities that we might not have otherwise recognized. Logistics items are typically more consumable products. These can be ordered and paid with a credit card. Knowing the credit card limit for the VA is important so they do not go over that specified amount on any given order. Our team is trained to look out for these types of unique circumstances when dealing with the VA.

Who is a part of the government pod?

My role is government account manager. I’m not the manager for each team member, but I help provide focus and guidance for efforts within the pod, serve as a resource within CSD for government interactions, and act as a liaison between CSD and our account executives on the BusinessCare Integration (BCI) team. Karen Klyn is our Customer Support representative, Emily Johnson is a Pricing and Contracts team member, and Nakia Boone is with Accounts Receivable.

All three are specially trained to support the VA and military hospitals. For example, Karen is an expert in deciphering complex purchase requisitions from VA facilities that can sometimes be very lengthy. Nakia is well-versed in navigating the complex system within the VA to expedite payments. Emily is instrumental in making sure our pricing is accurate, providing quotes, and working with distributors that contract with government facilities.

How are the VA and military hospitals unique customers?

There are approximately 170 VA facilities across the United States. Together they form the largest integrated service network in the United States. At the same time, Cook field reps also work with VA facilities on an individual level to meet local needs. The VA does not use distributors entirely as that model of distribution is not prevalent in their supply chain, which makes their orders with Cook much more manual and resources intensive. The VA is also restricted by federal regulations, such as requiring certain percentages of their purchases to be made from small businesses. One of my responsibilities is to work with our small-business partners whenever our government customers require a purchase to be made through a small business.

As an uncommitted customer, we must monitor what is going on with the VA on a national level and also focus regionally. Our group is able to do both with the addition of our BCI Account Executives for Government. We have people who can attend the national discussions, and we have account executives work on the regional level to continue to serve our customers.

With the military, we work with their Defense Logistics Agency to make sure our listing is accurate in their catalog. The military works almost exclusively with distributors on supply chain and places nearly 95% of their orders electronically. However, it is difficult to gain access to their facilities which are located on military bases around the globe. Our team works with field reps to make sure that the products are easier to procure and they can navigate the military facilities to establish the important relationships, both clinically and with supply chain.

What is the pod’s goal?

Ultimately, the goal is to better serve those who have served our country, and I am glad that Cook recognizes the importance of making that happen.