HMA........NEWS.
COMTEX) B: Chairman of Health Management Associates highlights a qua
B: Chairman of Health Management Associates highlights a quality service
management program called QSM in interview with The Wall Street Transcript
WILLIAM J. SCHOEN is the Chairman of Health Management Associates, Inc.
New York City, New York, Feb 05, 2001 (The Wall Street Transcript via COMTEX)
-- Five leading analysts and top management from fifty-four sector firms examine
the UBS Warburg Global Healthcare Services Conference in this special 195-page
issue from The Wall Street Transcript, available at (212/952-7433) or
twst.com
TWST: Would you mind providing our readers with a brief overview of Health
Management Associates (NYSE:HMA)?
Mr. Schoen: Our company has been in existence for approximately 23 years. We
basically changed the direction of our company back in 1983 when I joined the
company. At that time, we set our sights on being the sole or predominant
provider of health care in non-urban markets throughout the Southeast and
Southwest. Our goal then, as it is now, was to purchase hospitals, mostly public
hospitals, in underserved, non-urban markets and give the people in those
communities the kind of health care services that they needed and were not
getting. Folks were traveling 40 - 80 miles away to urban-center hospitals
because they didn't have the quality of health care that they needed in their
own communities.That was the strategic direction that we set for the company
back in 1983, and that's our strategic direction in the year 2001. We haven't
deviated from that structure. We really developed this niche of the non-urban
hospital market, and, almost all of the hospitals that we own are hospitals that
were community or non-profit hospitals, 501-C hospitals, or county hospitals.
Our charge in these hospitals is to stop the out-migration of patients in those
communities and give them the high-quality health care that they deserve and
need.
TWST: Would you say you have a significant amount of competition right now?
Mr. Schoen: Not really. In our arena, we do not. Our competition is really the
big hospital in the urban market. If we have the same quality of doctors, and we
have the technology in our hospitals, we can compete very effectively because it
means patients won't have to drive 40 - 80 miles away to receive care. They will
have quality care in their own hospital, in their own backyard.
TWST: Would you say that you've helped to improve the overall quality of life
for these people?
Mr. Schoen: Absolutely. By providing an outstanding medical community, we've
been able to energize entire communities that can now attract additional
industry because now the community has an outstanding health care source.
TWST: Are there any benefits or incentives that you provide to people to attract
people to your organization?
Mr. Schoen: Oh, absolutely. With a market cap of close to $5 billion, naturally
stock options are very important in a company like ours. To give you a sense of
what's taken place at our company over the last 10 years since we've been
public, we've had seven stock splits at HMA. Stock options become a big
incentive for people to join our company.Secondly, we're a very decentralized
company, which gives people opportunities, especially Executive Directors,
Controllers and Directors of Nursing in our hospitals. Those are the three major
leadership positions in our hospitals. The company gives these local managers
the ability to operate that hospital and be entrepreneurial in operating it. We
naturally provide the financial resources to be able to expand those hospitals
and allow them to serve their markets far better than ever before. That is a
real incentive. Being a public company is a major advantage for us.Naturally,
the hospital leadership team is incentivized beyond their salary for the quality
of health care they provide. We have a quality service management program,
called QSM, which allows patients to rate every aspect of their contact with the
hospital from a quality perspective. The surveys completed by the patients are
compiled and the results tabulated by an independent third party.
This interview is a small excerpt from a comprehensive interview published in
The Wall Street Transcript on 02/05/01.
This special conference issue includes: <P>1) Outlook for Healthcare Services -
In an in-depth (2,000 words) Analyst Interview, William McKeever, Managing
Director in the health care services group at UBS Warburg Equity Research,
examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.
2) Hospital Management Services - In an in-depth (5,500 words) Analyst
Interview, Matt Ripperger, Director with Warburg Dillon Read's Healthcare
Research Group of UBS Warburg, examines the outlook for the sector and shares
specific stock recommendations.
3) Long-Term Care and Specialty Services - In an in-depth (4,100 words) Analyst
Interview, Howard Capek, Executive Director with Warburg Dillon Read of UBS
Warburg, examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock
recommendations.
4) Diagnostic and Product Services - In an in-depth (1,600 words) Analyst
Interview, Ricky Goldwasser, Associate Director at UBS Warburg, examines the
outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.
5) Outlook for e-health - In an in-depth (3,200 words) Analyst Interview,
Michael Clulow, Sell-Side Research Analyst at UBS Warburg, examines the outlook
for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.
6) CEO interviews (average 2,500 words). Top management of fifty-four sector
firms examine the outlook for their firm and the sector.
By William Schoen
CONTACT: The Wall Street Transcript Corporation
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(212) 668 9842
info@twst.com
URL: twst.com
The Wall Street Transcript is a premier weekly investment publication interview
ng market professionals for serious investors for over 36 years.
Copyright 2001 Wall Street Transcript Corp.
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INDUSTRY KEYWORD: Health Services
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