Hanger Talk

Hanger Talk

Stephan Manucharian

I have been following the Hanger Talk for quite some time and really didn’t
have any desire to comment on that topic. However, after I read Mr. John
MacGregor’s “Hanger Hoopla “, I decided to share my experiences too. I was
managing one of two offices of an independent facility when NovaCare and then
Hanger took over. I kept a position of Branch Manager. I was never forced to
purchase specific componentry based on the price. Myself as well as other
fellow managers had “free hand” to use any manufacturers. Yes, we had a list
of “preferred vendors”, but it was quite extensive and we were allowed to go
outside of the list if absolutely necessary. Overall, I wouldn’t say, that my
experience with the Giant was negative. It’s a community, where each
individual practitioner is just like the others, with their ambitions, with
the desire to be the best, keep the patient happy and satisfied. It has been
now about ten months since I left Hanger and opened my own practice. Do I
consider Hanger a competitor, of course - yes, if I am paranoid about it - no,
if I talk on and on about how much more I pay for components and that this
situation may drive us, small independent facilities out of business – never.
Believe me, even paying double for some parts than Hanger, I am running my
practice much-much more efficiently than them. I was there, I know. Hanger
recently had to close the facility I was working at down. Reasons? Well, sure,
I presented very strong competition, having been in the area for 5-6 years or
so, but the main cause, I strongly believe, they didn’t have a qualified
practitioner to replace me with, smoothen up the transition period (by the
way, it was a busy, but single practitioner office). It boils down to the
personality of each individual practitioner. There were and still are former
owner/managers working for Hanger and they still run their offices as their
own, it’s a matter of pride too for them. I see a lot of very poor work, that
comes out of BOTH Hanger and non Hanger facilities, however since Hanger is
such a large and “convenient” target, we all tend to criticize them.

I would like to hear from practitioners, who left Hanger/Novacare recently,
say within 2-3 years and now own their private practices and also from former
owner/managers who are still with Hanger (names by request will be withheld).

Stephan R. Manucharian, CP


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