Industry Insider: An Inside Look at BSN Medical

For this month’s feature, Today’s Wound Clinic spoke with Keith Galloway, president – North America. Today’s Wound Clinis (TWC): How long have you been in wound care, and how did you enter this area of healthcare? Keith Galloway (KG): My academic background includes a bachelor’s from Shippensburg (PA) University a master’s from Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA), and postgraduate business certification from Wharton (University of Pennsylvania). Most recently, I completed doctoral residency in business with a focus in marketing and adaptive leadership. I have been privileged to work the majority of my corporate career over the past 25 years with leading medical companies – Roche Diagnostics, Agilent (formerly Varian), and now with BSN Medical. Working in senior executive management on a global basis in a variety of progressively challenging and multidiscipline technologies and markets has prepared me well for my current leadership responsibilities with BSN. I take a lot of pride in the opportunity to work with many talented and committed professionals, with the support of a leading global healthcare company. TWC: What’s your day-to-day role? KG: I am responsible for commercial operations within the US and Canada. We actually have two field sales organizations, one for hospitals and clinics, the other for home medical equipment (HME)/pharmacy. The focus of the hospital team is fracture management and acute and advanced wound care, while the HME/pharmacy team focuses on compression therapy (including lymphology) and retail orthopedics. TWC: What do you find most rewarding about providing for your industry? KG: I never tire of hearing remarkable examples every day of how our products and services positively impact and enhance the lives of our patients and the performance of medical professionals. Being able to help improve healing rates with our Cutimed® Sorbact,® an alternative to antimicrobial dressings, and with Cutimed Off-Loader, our total contact casting technology, is very rewarding. Also, utilizing our unique therapy concept from JOBST® Comprifore® to UlcerCARE® and ultimately to gradient compression therapy, in order to provide a lifetime of improved patient care and comfort, is rewarding. TWC: How would you describe the overall mission of your company? KG: The purpose that drives our North American business is very specific. Our purpose is to help our customers prosper in an uncertain healthcare environment and to become the business partner our customers really need.   We want to work with our customers to provide insight through every facet of our organization – products, services, people, and processes – to make our customers successful in providing their customers – patients and practitioners – with the highest quality outcomes. We continue to work very hard every day to align our business to this single purpose. TWC: What’s new with BSN? KG: In 2012, BSN enjoyed our best year ever, even in a challenging economic and healthcare environment. The year was enhanced by our acquisition by EQT, which has a solid track record of helping its assets grow and succeed in a variety of disciplines. Wound care is a rapidly growing area within BSN fueled by our Cutimed, Leukomed,® and Coverlet® brands. Additionally, our JOBST brand, a market leader for more than 60 years, continues to be the No. 1 physician-recommended brand in compression therapy, while our wide range of FLA® orthopedics remains the No. 1 recommended brand by pharmacists. TWC: How is your company unique? KG: As a global company, BSN benefits from the ideas and innovation provided from our affiliates around the world. We are able to test products in a variety of markets and modify, when necessary, to meet local needs. Our diverse product lines offer our customers a multitude of options to meet the needs of their patients and customers. We have a growing number of market-leading brands, and we continue to seek and provide innovation in everything we do. TWC: Why are you passionate about the work of your company? KG: I am extremely proud to lead a team of healthcare professionals that is passionate about its products and services, and of how we can individually and collectively positively impact the health and well-being of patients and the care that our customers provide to them. We continue to constantly raise the bar of everything that we do, so ultimately our customers and their patients will benefit. This is what drives us every day. TWC: How is your company approaching challenges in wound care? KG: Wound care is certainly a dynamic market, and many of our global affiliates are growing above the market at a healthy pace. While we continually add new and innovative products, our North American wound care business is outpacing even some of our older, more established brands. As the needs of our customer base changes, we continue to invest in research and development, and remain dedicated to providing the products, tools, and insight they demand. TWC: What are your most popular products and/or services? KG: BSN Medical is a global medical device company, and one of the world’s leading suppliers in the product segments of casting, bandaging, traditional wound care, orthopedic soft goods, and compression therapy. Several of our well-known brands – Leukoplast,® Leukomed,® Gypsona,® Ortho-Glass,® JOBST, FLA, Radiante,® Delta-Cast,® Cutimed,® Sorbact,® Coverlet,® Actimove,® and Tricodur® – are among the most trusted names in the healthcare profession. TWC: How do you ensure proper training on products and services? KG: In addition to the highest quality products and service, BSN Medical has an ongoing commitment to ensure a comprehensive range of training and education options based on customer needs. Our programs are designed to optimize educational support so that resources supporting our products are equipped with the latest clinical techniques and cost-effective use. Training is offered in a variety of forms including hands-on workshops, skill labs, manuals, and videos. TWC: What are the future goals for you and your company? KG: We have a major initiative underway globally in wound care and have recently launched a number of new products. BSN is quite possibly the only company that can provide the therapeutic range for the lifetime caring of diabetic foot ulcers – wound care, ulcer care, and compression therapy. We are also evaluating how some of our market-leading products globally can be expanded into both existing and new markets going forward. We have also recently launched new products in our other core markets: compression therapy, orthopedics, fracture management, and lymphedema. At BSN Medical, we continue to invest heavily in innovation that can help clients grow their businesses, expand their client base, and, most importantly, improve the health and well-being of patients.