Michael D. Adrian
Owner/President
Horizon Medical Technologies, LLC
mikead@adelphia.net
info@HorizonMedTech.com

Who he is...
Our SNALFer of the Week leads the efforts of Horizon Medical Technologies, a distribution company dedicated to helping health care organizations and private industry reduce risk. Long-term care is his largest customer, and Mike reports that business is “growing by leaps and bounds” in Horizon’s two primary areas of focus: fall prevention and employee drug testing.

How he got here...
Mike’s path to long-term care service was non-traditional, to say the least. From managing computer centers in the Pittsburgh area, he became national sales manager for a British metals company that designed, installed and refurbished steel and aluminum mills. A grueling travel schedule and the general decline of the American metals industry led him to accept a management position with Glenmark Associates in the company’s newly formed Horizon Medical Technologies division. “I thought long-term care was a more stable situation,” he says, then recognizes just how unusual that sounds.

After guiding the company through acquisitions by Multicare and Genesis Health Ventures, Mike decided the time was right to step out on his own. His 1999 tender offer was accepted by Genesis, and since then he’s moved aggressively to refocus Horizon’s efforts. “We’ve realigned our way of thinking,” he says. “We went back to the basics to identify our strengths and weakness, and decided to focus on helping our clients reduce risk in every day operations.”

Why he likes what he does...
Because he knows he’s making a difference. With Horizon’s two product lines, Mike’s happy to be helping long-term care address its three most pressing challenges: risk reduction, staffing shortages and tight budgets. “That’s why our programs are taking off like crazy,” he says.

He’s especially proud of Horizon’s drug testing product, which returns urine sample results in only five minutes. “With the staffing problem so bad, especially in nursing, the candidate is the one in charge,” he says. “While you’re waiting four or five days for test results, that person could be out interviewing with several different companies.”

With Mike’s program, not only are the results back in less time than it takes to complete a job application, but it’s accomplished at a fraction of the traditional expense – cutting the usual cost from $30 down to less than $10. “We’ve even had companies doubt our ability because the price was so cheap,” he says with a laugh. “It’s almost like we should charge more to make it legitimate. But of course we don’t.”

His greatest reward...
“I guess that comes when you have a new client on board who says they’ve eliminated 45 percent of patient falls with our device, or that they were almost ready to hire someone who tested positive for cocaine,” he says. “When you hear things like that, it keeps you motivated.”