David has played pivotal leadership roles in both the non-profit and manufacturing sectors, tasked with, and successfully executing company growth strategies. He currently leads TRIUNE by assuming responsibility for all business development initiatives and the company’s financial success. In this interview, David talks to me about the challenges of working in a family business and his core business values.

Starting Out in the Healthcare Domain

David’s father was a vocational counselor for injured workers and established TRIUNE Health Group, a disability management network in 1990. Initially, David chose to stay away from the business owing to the complexities of a family business and the healthcare domain.

Instead, he went to grad school for business after which he was approached by a priest at a Catholic Parish Church to help turn around the Church’s finances. Having to rely on donations while following the long-established ways of working had the Church’s finances in a difficult state.

Even on a low salary, David was determined to help the Church and initiated several structural, financial, and marketing changes which led to a huge turnaround for the Church. He then moved on to a manufacturing unit in the waste and recycling industry which reached new heights under his guidance.

Following this, David was keen to establish his start-up in food delivery and he was working on it when he realized that his family business needed help in the growth trajectory, which is when he transitioned over.

Having worked in client acquisition, David states that one of the things salespeople often get wrong is selling a product, without understanding someone’s pain or story. Additionally, he also believes in sharing one’s own philosophy or story with clients for a better connection over a sales pitch. This is what helped him land his first account as well.

‘I look at the system and I see how the tendencies of humanity have made healthcare into a very complex organization. TRIUNE Health Group is bringing healthcare back to its roots and putting the patient in the center which is how it was always supposed to be.’

Talking about his motivation to continue in the healthcare industry, David states touching people’s lives in the short and the long term is a huge factor. In the short term, the team provides an opportunity to intersect with people at a very stressful time in their lives and be a beacon of hope for them. The long-term motivation is working to impact healthcare in a way to be able to do something for the good of the industry and in turn benefit a lot of people.

‘Regulations and systems, they are all well-intentioned, but they have created a complex monster in which the only person who ends up suffering is the patient because they don’t get the kind of care that they need.’

Current Business Structure and Organization

Talking about the clients at TRIUNE, David mentions that they deal with insurance carriers and TPAs of all sizes, including some large national ones. For the company, the right partner is an insurance carrier who understands the value that the nurse brings to a file. The firm also works with several self-insured employers. David says that chances are a connection are higher and they often know the true value of having a nurse as part of the treatment.

Currently, TRIUNE has just over 100 employees along with 350 nurses in the network that cover the whole country of family businesses. The total number of clients is 200 ranging across different insurance companies’ employers, TPAs, and municipalities.

Standout Moments as a Business Leader

David lists the MBA program he attended at the top because it was a non-traditional MBA run and taught by people who were all acting CEOs. The classes were taught from their experience and all the professors were running companies as their day job. For David, a remarkable teaching moment was watching all these successive people sitting with humility and listening to everyone talk about their lessons and experiences.

‘That was a pivotal moment for me in my philosophy on leadership, which is you got to stay humble and you’ve got to recognize that all you’re doing is serving in a different role.’

Another standout moment was winning an RFP with one of the top 5 P&C carriers in the country. As a private family-owned business, it validated the company’s infrastructure and efforts in line with some of the bigger names in managed care. The reason the company won was because the carrier was interested in understanding how to bring empathy, compassion, and respect for the human person into claims.

‘This was a pivotal moment for me to realize there are some big players out there who understand the value of integral healthcare and they want that, which means that there is truly a need in the market for us to serve.’

Overcoming Challenges in Business

There have been several tough times during the course of the business and for David, the nurse case management business was a challenge due to well paid professionals. As a firm, the belief is to have full-time employees to ensure they are culturally aligned while also providing them with the stability to care for their families. However, as salaries increased significantly and financial crises occurred in the economy, the challenge was to balance the sales drop and business with taking care of people. The firm made the decision not to lay people off and even though it came at a lot of cost for the business, it was a big challenge to overcome.

Another challenge was shifting the mindset of a family business. This is a big challenge and often why a lot of people sell a business after several years. As an outsider, coming into the business and initiating change was a challenge. The focus was to keep the same principles and culture and change the applications.

COVID was another challenge with hospitals shutting down, clinics not seeing patients, fewer claims happening, and the subjective one of dealing with the fears of employees, navigating PPE, and other things.

David also considers taking over the business and passing it onto a second generation as a big challenge. Bringing a change in leadership while maintaining the growth trajectory of the business was a challenge but one that they have successfully overcome.

Business Plans for the Future

David reveals that their number one plan is to keep the company private and not sell. He believes that culture always comes from the top and his family is very passionate about preserving the company culture.

‘There may be other people that could run the business operationally better, but in maintaining the culture of the company, we feel that’s our God-given responsibility.’

Another plan is to continue to grow both organically and inorganically. This includes bringing a lot more nurses on board, expanding across states to better serve the customer’s needs, as well as acquiring companies that are aligned with TRIUNE’s values.

Talking about the marketing activities that have helped the firm, David believes it is the personal touch and their customer-service approach to sales. The company also does a lot of digital marketing and public speaking.

David also believes that education is important. The firm has a program where they help train adjustors at no charge on specific services that they may not be familiar with. This characterizes the company’s core belief in customer service and improving the industry at every stage.

Top Philosophies and Core Values in Business

One of David’s core values is believing in the integral nature of the human person, body, mind, and spirit. He believes that the past years have put a lot of emphasis on robotics, AI, and technology but it is crucial to remember at the heart of it all is a human being.

‘When we treat the human body, if we don’t somehow take care of the minds and the soul, we are missing out.’

Innovation is another core value that does not necessarily mean new ways of doing things but new ways of looking at things.

‘For healthcare to work we have to look at how many things have we put into place just because it was the natural trajectory of systems and not because they were best for the patient.

Advice for Newcomers Looking to Start a Career in US Healthcare

Number one is to identify one’s core convictions, values, and motivating factors to get into healthcare. These are important to know because it’s easy to get lost as one gets old.

Number two would be to listen to those who are doing things differently, listen to the patient, the customer, other industries, and the way things are done.

‘The ability to continue to listen is what keeps you humble and allows you to continue to evolve and transform and then serve.’

Key Benefits of Services by TRIUNE Health Group

The biggest benefit for everybody is that it reduces the cost of recovering from an injury and helps one get back to work faster. Another key benefit is the unique connection that the firm’s nurses make with injured workers because it breaks down the barriers of fear a lot of times.

The nurse is the actual face of worker’s compensation. Whether one is an insurance company or an employer, often one does not have the chance to see the injured worker face-to-face. The nurse is the first person who personifies the company’s philosophy and gets through to the injured worker.

 ‘Studies reveal that claims are less expensive when there are no fear words in the claimant’s replies and when the claimant uses the words like fear, the cost of those claims is exponentially higher.”

Leadership Lessons Learned in Life

A big lesson is not to be afraid to make mistakes. David believes vulnerability is one of the most underrated qualities in a leader. A lot of leaders try to present themselves as fearless or as perfect but that’s not real, every human makes mistakes and has fears.

‘Showing vulnerability to your people allows them to trust you more, and trust is paramount.’

Another lesson is authenticity. To be authentic is not easy because there is a lot of pressure to be a certain way. David believes the best thing he can do for others is to be his authentic self.

The final one is courage because it’s not always easy to call the hard shots to continue to grow and succeed.”

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