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In response to market demands, new healthcare industry regulations,, and the explosive growth of his business. Joe Sansone, owner of TMC Orthopedic Supplies, Inc., is opening three new orthotic and prosthetic (brace shop) facilities named TMC Brace Place.

We will now be manufacturing and fabricating our own braces and will no longer be limited in the scope of bracing that we can provide.

A one-stop orthopedic shop. TMC offers a wide range of products including rehabilitation equipment, soft goods, surgical products, electrotherapy products, and now bracing by certified orthotists. The Clear Lake store is located at 100 NASA Parkway, Suite 30 in Webster, at the State Hwy 3 intersection; the southwest store is located at 1111 Hwy. 6, Suite 145 in Sugar Land; and the medical center location is at 100 Soutj Loop West, Suite 150.

Sansone is currently negotiating leases for additional orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) facilities and expects to have as many as six location s by the end of the year.

TMC Brace Place is meeting the market's most current demands, not only in patient care, but within stricter guidelines put forth by the Texas State Legislature. Recent legislation has mandated that, in the near future, companies cannot provide certain types of braces without proper certification.

"We've hired certified orthotists who will be working at each of the three orthotics and prosthetics facilities"� offers Sansone. John Pierce TMC certified orthotist John Pierce finishing lumber orthosis. Photo by Gittings & Lorfing

"We are able to offer an unprecedented level of service." Sansone said. "With the opening of the O&P facilities, our certified orthotists will not only see patients at our facilities, but can also travel to a physician's office or a patient's home to provide for their needs."

Sansone states that the same attention to detail and customer service provided by his company in the past will thrust his O&P operations to the forefront of the Houston market. "In talking with current customers, they all seemed to have the same concerns about the care their patients were receiving." States Sansone, "Often, their patients were being grossly overcharged and sometimes they did not receive the correct product." TMC Brace Place has instituted an entirely new approach to bracing. Physicians are provided with price schedules in advance and they are guaranteed that their patients receive exactly what they prescribe. Another unique feature offered exclusively by TMC Brace Place is their commitment to help indigent or non-covered patients. TMC sets aside a fund for each referring physician. Three percent of the physician's total billing is set aside to be used (at the physician's discretion) to help patients that cannot afford needed medical supplies.

TMC's recent expansion is only the latest chapter in one of the nation's great healthcare industry success stories. Founded in 1992, TMC Orthopedic Supplies, Inc. is the largest and fastest growing orthopedic company in the Houston area. TMC provides a comprehensive line of orthopedic products, coupled with a large selection of equipment, bracing and soft goods.

Within its first six years, the company has grown from two to 42 employees. When the onset of managed care forced other medical supply companies to downsize, TMC expanded. The fragile two-man that once operated our of a 400-square foot facility has retained its original line of cryotherapy equipment and now distributes over 80 different product lines from a combines 10,000 square feet of space.

TMC's sales growth has been extremely impressive. In 1992, the company posted $377,902 in sales with just two employees. Annual sales grew to more than $2 million in 1995 and more than $6 million in 1997. Such growth has made TMC and company President Joe Sansone the recipient of several honors and awards.

TMC has been awarded Accreditation with Commendation by the Joint Commission of Health Care Organizations. This marks the highest level of achievement for a medical equipment company. TMC is one of a select few firms to be recognized three consecutive years by the Houston 100, a list of the fastest growing corporations in the Houston area, rating among the top 50 during 1996, 1997 and 1998. Sansone has been involved in the orthopedic industry since 1988 and has been recognized nationally as an innovator in the industry.

In 1997, Sansone was selected as a finalist by Ernest & Young L.L.P. for Entrepreneur of the Year, and, in 1998, he received the United States Small Business Administration top award as Small Business Person of the Year. "We offer dramatically different services that force our customers to acknowledge that we are different."

"For example, many of our competitors offer similar products for sale, but delivery takes up to a week."

While larger national companies often had back-order problems, TMC developed a reputation among the medical community as the company to call when no one else could quickly deliver a needed product. "We offer something customers can't get anywhere else: we guarantee no back-orders, and if a customer order by 3 p.m., they receive their products the following day," states Sansone.

For equipment and services within the city limits of Houston, TMC offers an unsurpassed guaranteed two-hour delivery or the rental is free for customers. "That got the attention of our customer," boasts Sansone. "It's a concrete guarantee that our competitors just couldn't match."

An innovative, customer-friendly approach that emphasizes hard-to-meet client requirements has set TMC apart from other providers in this specialty market.

"Since we are a local company, unburdened by corporate bureaucracy, we can react quickly to changes in the industry.

"I've never been concerned with how other companies are doing things,"states Sansone. "Instead, if you learn to react quickly and change with the market, a dynamic company can not only survive, but actually grow and broaden its range of services. Throughout the years, many companies failed or were gobbled up by larger national companies because they could not change with the market."

By effectively adapting to the managed care market, TMC offers superior service to physicians, hospitals and, ultimately, patients.

"The managed care industry has definitely reduced the amount of abuse and waste in the medical system and overall achieved cost reduction," comments Sansone. "Now the challenge is combining these savings while offering better patient care."

As the managed care era began, an increasing amount of business went to the larger companies that had contracted with national companies and it became increasingly difficult for TMC to obtain business. Sansone saw a niche that was not being filled by national or local firms.

Faced with a tight market, the fledgling company launched a diversification program and made TMC a one-stop orthopedic shop for managed care entities. In doing so, TMC began offering surgeons everything from screws implanted during surgery to bracing and rehabilitation equipment. With managed care's objective of minimizing hospital stays, TMC offered CPM, portable cryotherapy, and rehabilitative equipment, which enable patients to go home sooner.

Sansone sees continued growth for his firm, but keeps his focus on the marketplace's ever changing needs and requirements.

"I don't pretend to be able to predict what the market's going to do. I let the market dictate changes. I can say that, within the orthopedic industry, my market share will continue to increase. I hope to have a total of six O&P facilities in Houston by the end of 1998."

Sansone says his obsessions with setting his company apart from others promotes a company-wide attitude that challenges his employees.

Helping Sansone manage the extensive growth and expansion of his business, Judy Hatcher serves as TMC's operations manager, Hatcher a former director of materials management at Fort Bend Hospital, was a customer of TMC's and caught the eye of company President Joe Sansone. "I called on almost every hospital in Houston,� says Sansone, "and I noted that Judy's employees had the ability to make decisions that their peers at other facilities could not. I saw in Judy the ability to manage employees and empower them to grow with the company." Sansone credits Hatcher's management philosophy with enabling him to expand his business at such a rapid pace.

TMC nurtures accountability and responsibility for its employees so that when an opportunity arises, instead of saying "we can't do that," they are encouraged to think "how can I make it happen?"� TMC policy dictates that employees' focus must remain on their clients' needs and he assures them they will never be penalized for going out of their way to provide extra service.

Dr. Donald Baxter, Joe Sansone and Judy Hatcher discuss products
to be used in an upcoming surgery.
Photo by Gittings & Lorfing