Transcript Generated by AI 00:00 Hi, Mark Parkinson here with Park Place. 00:03 And today I'm very excited that we are announcing our sponsor of the Let's Talk 00:08 part of the website and the sponsor is none other than First Quality. 00:13 First Quality is the leading provider of incontinence products in the United 00:17 States and they have been a friend of mine for many, many years. 00:21 Stacey and I were customers way back in the 90s and 2000s, 00:25 but really more important was a deep relationship that I built with First 00:29 Quality during the 14 years that I ran the American Healthcare Association. 00:34 And I've told the story before, but we faced a horrible crisis in the 00:38 pandemic with our business model at ACA. 00:41 We have a lot of events every year. 00:43 They're sponsored by vendor partners. 00:45 We take that sponsorship money, we feed it into our lobbying program. 00:49 And that's how hopefully we're effective on Capitol Hill. 00:53 When the pandemic hit, we had to cancel all of our meetings, 00:56 but we still needed the revenue. 00:58 And so we face the prospect of having to fire lobbyists at the very time that when 01:02 we were needed the most. 01:04 So I called Sima at First Quality. 01:06 I said, Sima, I've got a terrible problem. 01:09 And without really even asking her, Sima volunteer to give us all of the 01:13 money. 01:13 And it's hundreds of thousands of dollars that First Quality gives us every year, 01:18 even though we cancelled all the events that then shamed the other vendor 01:22 partners into doing the same thing. 01:24 And so instead of laying off people during the pandemic, 01:27 we were able to hire people. 01:29 So I am forever indebted to First Quality, and I'm thrilled the First Quality is now 01:35 a part of Park Place. 01:36 It's fun to continue to work with you. 01:38 So we're here with Shelley Bass. 01:39 And Shelley, thank you so much for what you've done 01:42 for the sector in the past, but more, you know, 01:45 just as important what you're doing for Park Place now. 01:48 So welcome to Park Place. 01:49 Thank you. 01:51 We're thrilled that you're sponsoring. 01:52 Let's talk. 01:52 That's going to be a monthly segment. 01:54 We're going to have a superstar. 01:55 The very first one is Norman Broquish and it's he doesn't you're going to do a 01:59 great job at giving people advice on on how to succeed. 02:02 We're thrilled that you're sponsoring that segment. 02:04 We want to spend a little bit of time talking about First Quality. 02:07 I think everybody knows what First Quality is. 02:09 You're in thousands of buildings across the country. 02:12 But tell us a little bit about your history. 02:14 Yeah, absolutely. 02:15 So First Quality is a family owned business and we now have our third 02:19 generation that is involved as well. 02:22 We started about 35 years ago manufacturing briefs in Pennsylvania 02:26 selling into skilled nursing facilities and I'm proud to say we still manufacture 02:31 in Pennsylvania. 02:32 Of course, our facilities are much larger now than 02:35 they were back 35 years ago and we are one of the leading adult incontinence 02:39 manufacturers and our brand Prevail is one of the top choices as you said for 02:44 many skilled nursing facilities throughout US as well as in Canada. 02:49 But I will say first quality has also grown beyond just our adult incontinence. 02:53 Today we are the manufacturer of what I would call everyday Essentials. 02:57 So we manufacture products from baby diapers all the way up to adult 03:01 incontinence products. 03:03 We manufacture personal care wipes. 03:05 We also do paper towels as well as most recently laundry care. 03:11 So we, if you, it's those things that people use 03:14 everyday throughout their homes or maybe they use them themselves. 03:19 But I always like to say first quality has a special place for healthcare and 03:24 adult incontinence. 03:25 So it's a special place in their heart for, 03:27 for those products just because that's where it all got started. 03:30 Yeah, but you're doctor skilled nursing, you're all across the long term care 03:34 sector, retail and everything. 03:36 Now we are. 03:36 So our healthcare business, we work with skilled nursing facilities, 03:40 of course, assisted living. 03:42 We're also very a big part of home care as well. 03:46 And we do have some retail opportunities as well. 03:49 Now I think the viewers are going to get tired of me talking about how important 03:52 it is to be mission driven, but I really believe it. 03:54 So I, I will continue to talk about it. 03:56 And one of the things I love about first Quality is that you're a mission driven 03:59 organization. 04:00 Talk, talk about what that mission is and what 04:02 that means. 04:03 It, it is very simple. 04:05 It's just make things better. 04:06 So anytime First quality is thinking about product, whether it's quality, 04:11 innovation, design, we're always thinking how can we make it 04:14 better, how can we make things better especially 04:17 for those that are using our products or maybe for a caregiver that is working 04:22 with someone. 04:23 So we call that the why behind our product and that why is really all of 04:27 those people that depend on us and rely on us every day for really their quality 04:33 of life. 04:33 So whether it's in a home care setting, whether it's in a healthcare setting, 04:37 it could be that person, it could be a family caregiver, 04:40 it might be a professional caregiver, but everything we want to do, 04:43 we want to make sure we're making things better for them. 04:47 I mean, I love that you have a three word mission 04:49 statement make things, but I mean, it's just, 04:52 it's a great mission statement and it applies to every, 04:55 it really does customers and well. 04:56 And we, we're very instrumental in our 04:59 communities as well as, of course, you said employees. 05:02 So all of those things, everything we do, we just try to make things better. 05:05 OK, Something I didn't know until getting 05:07 ready for this interview. 05:08 I I thought when you sold your products to a nursing home, that was it. 05:12 And then, you know, they'd reorder and buy some more. 05:14 But you, you have a whole clinical backbone to 05:17 your organization that helps them, you know, more than just selling product. 05:21 Talk about that clinical capability that you got. 05:24 Yeah. 05:24 I mean, prevail, a very innovative, high quality product. 05:27 But we also have a dedicated E nurse team of clinicians and every day they live and 05:34 breathe incontinence care. 05:36 They are available to participate with the facilities either virtually or they 05:42 can go in person. 05:43 But they are very highly qualified. 05:46 So all of them come with infection control training as well as many of them 05:51 also have other certifications, like we have a dementia care training 05:57 expert as well as a wound care training expert as well. 06:02 Yeah. 06:02 So I didn't realize you had all this clinical support. 06:04 You also provide some financial support to help people figure out on the 06:08 financing side how to make it work out for them. 06:10 We do. 06:11 So it's really a balanced approach. 06:12 It's holistic. 06:13 We like to think, OK, you have to have great clinical outcomes. 06:16 You also have to have great financial outcomes to be successful. 06:19 So we have management tools that help the facilities put the best practices in 06:23 place and then we monitor those throughout as well, 06:26 so that we get both the best clinical outcomes as well as the best financial 06:31 outcomes. 06:31 So what kind of results have you seen? 06:34 Yeah, we hear from our operators that we're 06:36 able to really provide the clinical and financial outcomes that they're looking 06:40 for. 06:41 And then most recently, we've done some clinical studies as well 06:45 with a third party where we compared our Prevail Next Generation Brief with more 06:51 common lower, lower priced, lower quality products and we were able 06:55 to get to some really incredible results. 06:59 Yeah, so maybe sometimes spending a little bit 07:01 more can actually save a provider money down the road because they're having much 07:05 better health outcomes. 07:07 Absolutely. 07:08 In this study, we were able to reduce, for instance, 07:11 incontinence associated dermatitis by more than 70%. 07:14 So you can imagine that's a better clinical outcome, 07:16 but you're also saving money. 07:18 We were also able to reduce laundry costs by up to 30%. 07:22 And then with that as well, we were able to reduce the amount they 07:26 actually spent on products. 07:28 So even though it was a little more expensive, they reduce their costs by 23%. 07:32 Great. 07:33 I know you're doing terrific work. 07:34 So we appreciate your, your sponsorship. 07:37 What why did you all decide to get involved in this project? 07:40 Well, I, I think when you hear about First quality 07:43 and prevail, we're about innovation and just hearing 07:46 when we were having conversations and that Park Place was a new innovative 07:51 platform where you're promoting quality care in our seniors. 07:56 Those are two things that we are really can get behind. 07:58 So it, it was a little bit of a no brainer. 08:01 We were happy to be able to, to help and we appreciate the opportunity 08:05 to support it. 08:06 And I also think there's like a joint admiration, 08:09 almost a love between myself and first quality. 08:11 And I think I, I feel it back. 08:13 I, I almost feel I can't say no to first 08:15 quality. 08:15 Anything you all ever need for similar? 08:17 I feel like you. 08:18 So we try not to take advantage of it, but we're thrilled to have you on this 08:23 platform. 08:23 Absolutely. 08:24 I think when missions align, good things happen. 08:27 So we appreciate the opportunity. 08:29 Well, thank you very much to First Quality for 08:31 being a sponsor of Let's Talk and a supporter of this website. 08:34 What is a big part of what allows it to be free for all of you? 08:38 And so thanks to them and thanks to you for watching. 08:43 Oh my God, If you're still watching this, this means that you watch the end of a 08:47 very long video on Park Place. 08:49 I'm not sure what that means. 08:50 It says something about you or maybe there was just nothing else to watch 08:54 today, or maybe your priorities are a little bit 08:57 off. 08:57 But whatever it is, we really appreciate your support. 09:00 And if you want to continue to follow us, follow us on LinkedIn, 09:04 on our various social media sites and, you know, 09:06 try to find something else to do.
