Reliable Medical Supply’s acquisition of Chicago-based Orbit Medical on Dec. 1 allows the company to diversify its business model without changing its core products and services, says CEO Katie Stevens.
Orbit Medical, like Reliable Medical, is a full-line HME provider that specializes in power mobility and complex rehab, but it focuses on serving the needs of patients who are being discharged from the hospital or who are receiving home health care services.
“They’re serving complex rehab patients before they get to seating clinics,” Stevens said. “The process is very much the same – patients are being evaluated with the appropriate clinicians – they’re just meeting them earlier in the process.”
Orbit Medical, which was founded in 2005, but refocused on its core products and services in 2011, serves patients in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, from offices in Chicago; Aurora, Ill.; Detroit; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Milwaukee.
“Meeting” patients through the discharge or home health process also allows Orbit Medical, and now Reliable Medical, to serve patients in more rural areas who can’t conveniently access seating clinics, Stevens says.
“There are people in these areas that are underserved and by working with health systems and home health therapists you’re serving them with a fuller suite of products and services,” she said.
The Orbit Medical acquisition also makes sense for the more typical reasons, Stevens says. Reliable Medical has a small presence in Wisconsin but not Illinois or Michigan.
“Despite being a strong Midwest provider, this is also a good old fashioned geographical expansion for us as their footprint perfectly complements our own,” she said.
Additionally, the acquisition strengthens Reliable Medical’s leadership team, with Orbit Medical CEO Brandon Bliss and other members joining the company. Bliss “rebuilt the company from a tough place” in the wake of a settlement with the Department of Justice nearly a decade ago and has grown the company into a market leader, Stevens says.
“This is not a sale where leadership intends to move on; they’re joining the Reliable team as key members,” she said. “We have the same core values – we like to have fun; we like to treat people well; and we do things the right way. We’re excited to bring their energy to the team.”
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