Complaint Review: ForTec Medical Inc. - Streetsboro Ohio

Hi...I was hired by Fortec a year and a half ago as a part time technician. I have to agree with James (if that's his real name...Ha Ha). ForTecs methods of training are absolutely pathetic. I never even went to Ohio for their corporate training and I was sent out by myself after a week of shadowing their manager in Rochester.

Hippa training, Laser certification...Bullshit! As long as you have a heartbeat they will hire you and send you out to the hospitals in a surgery environment ASAP. After the manager was let go because he didn't agree with Fortec Rripping off hospitals...me and two others quit shortly after. It is scary that Fortec is still in business. I was actually telling surgeons what to do after a few weeks of training because they didn't know their head from their asses. What's even more scary is I didn't know what the hell I was talking about due to the lack of training,, LMAO!!!

As an ex employee ( I left Fortec after working for them for 2 1/2 years due to getting rehired for more money at my previous job ). I would like to address several of the allegations that were made.

All Fortec employees are initially trained in Ohio. They are then 'mentored" in an O.R. envoirnment by a "seasoned" employee as well as evaluated on their training and expertise in an ongoing process. Periodically, they are given training in new lasers operation as well as updates that occur in all applicable medical advances.

Laser certification is given after training and a monitored performance observation in the O.R..

HIPAA training, PPD skin test and an extensive background check is performed before allowing any employee to perform in the O.R..

As far as the "foot long" fiber allegation goes. Common sense will tell you that a doctor would not authorize the use of such a fiber.

The PM issue may be a valid allegation in some offices but overall they keep the PM's up to date. Most hospital bio-techs (if they are doing their jobs correctly and 98% are) will catch it if the units are out of date when checking them into the hospital.

LaserScope's decisions were all political.

Fortec Medical is a good company and if I have another kidney stone or need treatment for BPH I would be more than comfortable with using their services.

James,

You are absolutely right on this!  I used to work for Fortec and those were the practices in place.  If you pay for a new Fiber a new fiber should be used and not a refurbished or perhaps an already used fiber.

Unfortunately, there any many truths in your comments.  However, I'm sure the credential issues have been resolved in regards to the techs.

As far as the Greenlight laser I'm not sure, however; your comment makes sense due to the push of the Evolve laser over the Greenlight.  Both lasers are as effective! However, the Evolve appears to be easier to handle and its usage requirements are minimal compared to the Greenlight.

Techs do need more trainning.  I recall being thrown in the OR solo with a particular laser of which I didn't have enough trainning on.

Fortec, I'm not trying to bash you in any way.  However; James does have a point!!!

Dear Amanda,

I'm glad that your happy with the fiber services with ForTec Medical. Please take a moment to read the following ForTec Medical fiber process, then see how warm and fuzzzy ForTec makes you feel afterwards:

Fortec Medical initially purchases their Holmium Fibers from Laser Peripherals. Once the fiber is put into circulation, it is refurbished over and over again until it's about a foot long.

Let's say that your Grandfather went in to have a Bladder Stone removed. You've found grandpa a well respected urologist and everything is ready to go on the day of surgery. Here comes the ForTec Medical Technician into the O.R. with his Laser and his High School education. That's right - nothing more than a High School education. So, the procedure begins and the urologist asks for a 1000 micron Holmiuim fiber. Now the so called "trained laser technician" will hand over the fiber. What you don't realize is this: That fiber has been used at least several times before on several other patients and they are charging your hospital full price for that fiber. You see, it doesn't matter if they give you a new fiber that they purchased from Laser Peripherals or a fiber that's been used several times before. You are getting whacked full price each time.

Now, when the tip of that fiber breaks off inside your grandfathers bladder because it was cut back and stripped for the 20th time, that's okay...because you feel good about ForTec right?

As for the Laser Technician Training - it's absolutely comical. They will hire any Tom, d**k or Harry of the street as long as you can work for less than $100 a day and know how to push buttons. The Corporate training is 5 days in Streetsboro Ohio, where they give each rep a day to figure out how to use each laser. Now, ForTec has over 50+ Lasers right? Do you think they fly these people back for more training? No way! They ship out a laser and let them play with it in the office for 10 minutes about an hour before the surgery and then wing it!

Truth is Amanda - you don't even exist do you? Nice tryForTec!

I do not want to give out the name to the hospital I work for in Missouri due to the fact that under agreement with my employer my comments do not represent the opinion of the medical system I work for. My name is Amanda. I am a director of surgery. I have been doing business with ForTec medical for some time. There is not a doubt in my mind that ForTec medical is one of the better medical equipment rental/sales companies we have done business with in the past 15 years. ForTec has an excellent customer service and response time. As well as a very knowledgeable people and fair prices (I cannot discuss fiber pricing due to contract agreement). Im not going to tell you ForTec is the cheapest fiber source. However for the service and knowledge I would rather pay a bit more and know what great service I have then some fly by night fibers R us shop someones running out of their garage. I feel that my hospital system and ForTec will have a long lasting great business relationship together thanks to a Nathan Ross I deal with on a regular basis. Contrary to what this person from Rochester is claiming I feel ForTec is the one of the better companies in the industry for fiber sales. I am also aware of the fact that ForTec rents laser and services lasers that hospitals own; from talking to other colleagues I feel my opinion is the similar to what I believe thank you.

As an O.R. purchasing manager in one of three hospitals in Rochester, New York, I find it almost comical that Patrick Flipowitz denies these claims and the lengths this crooked company will go through. I happen to have an email with Patrick Flipowitz's name on it that was addressed to all ForTec Medical employees, which stated: "Managers, please make sure the technicians write "EF-1000" on the paperwork, as we do not want to draw attention to the fact that we are using Holmium fibers." Sound familiar Patrick? Should I have the former employee that so kindly gave me this information scan your company email into this report for everyone to see? That can easily be done! Simply say the word and we will show everyone the true colors in which you are hiding. I certainly hope ForTec is paying you well. What is the going rate for liars and swindlers these days????

The allegations made in this report are false and are suspected to be posted by an ex-employee who wishes to harm the reputation of our company. We also believe that the employee is impersonating an OR buyer to give the story creditability. Our attorney is reviewing the matter and addressing the individual we suspect posted this report. If you have any questions regarding this matter please contact Patrick Filipovitz (Director of Sales) directly to discuss. I can be reached at 1-800-963-7101.

I am one of the O.R. purchasing managers with a well respected hospital located in upstate New York. Recently, I was informed by a reliable source that our urology department was overcharged thousands of dollars for phony laser fibers used in the treatment of BPH. During the past year, we rented a 980 Diode Laser from ForTec Medical while using a 980nm side firing fiber. Unfortunately, the side firing fiber was not very effective, as it burned many of our hospital owned telescopes. Fortec Medical insisted that a new "STRAIGHT FIRING" fiber was on the horizon and it would eliminate all of our problems. When the fiber became available, we began using what they called an "EF-1000" fiber (or End-Firing) for the treatment of BPH. The charge was the same as a regular side firing fiber - $900 for each fiber used. Apparentely, there was nothing special about this so called "EF-1000" fiber. In fact, it was simply a "REFURBISHED" 1000 micron Holmium Fiber that they normally charge $150 for. In many cases, ForTec does not charge their customers for the Holmium fibers because they are used over and over again. It is my understanding that ForTec Medical was waiting for a fiber called the "T-MAX" to be manufactured and realized that they could use Holmiuim fibers (which were conveniently called "EF-1000's") until the "T-MAX" was available. Basically, our urology department was overcharged $750 for every phony EF-1000 fiber that was provided to our surgeons. Just 10 rentals at $750 = $7,500 and that adds up very quickly for a nice profit. If you are currently renting from this company, I would suggest going through your records to see if there are charges for the phony "EF-1000" fiber. If there is, you have been cheated. Another disturbing issue that was brought to my attention was ForTec's training policies. I have noticed quite a turnover of technicians within the past year, and I am afraid that many of the new technicians have not been through the proper training. Basically, they are bringing people in from off the street and throwing them immediately into a surgical environment without laser certification, HIPAA training and proper immunizations. If you are currently renting from ForTec Medical, I strongly suggest that you ask the technician for credentials (Laser Certification, PPD skin test etc.) Please use caution if you are considering renting from this company. Last time I checked, this was surgery, not Durand's Rent-All!

I am one of the O.R. purchasing managers with three affiliated hospitals in upstate N.Y. Recently, I was informed by a former ForTec medical employee that our urology department was overcharged thousands of dollars for phony laser fibers for the treatment of BPH. Our urology department has been renting a 980 Diode Laser from ForTec Medical during the past year and we have always used a 980nm side firing fiber. Unfortunately, the side firing fiber was not very effective and it burned many of our hospital owned telescopes. Fortec Medical insisted that a new "STRAIGHT FIRING" fiber was on the horizon and it would eliminate all of our problems. When the fiber came out nearly 9 months ago, we began using what they called a "EF-1000" fiber for the treatment of BPH. The charge was the same as a regular side firing fiber - $900 for each fiber used. Apparentely, there was nothing special about this so called "EF-1000" fiber. In fact, it was simply a "REFURBISHED" 1000 micron Holmium Fiber that they normally charge $150 for. In many cases, ForTec does not charge their customers for the Holmium fibers because they are used over and over again. Basically, our urology department was over charged $750 for every phony EF-1000 fiber they provided to our surgeons. Just 10 rentals at $750 = $7,500 and obviously that adds up very quickly for a nice profit. I am sure they have done this to many other hospitals throughout the United States. If you rent from this company, I would suggest going through your records to see if there is a charge for a "EF-1000" fiber. If there is, you have been scammed! Another disturbing fact that was brought to my attention - Recently, I was contacted by a hospital in the Syracuse area regarding ForTec's training policies. Apparentely, ForTec has been hiring unqualified candidates off the street and immediately throwing them into the O.R. without proper HIPAA training. If you are currently renting from ForTec Medical, I strongly suggest that you ask the technician for credentials (Laser Certification, PPD skin test etc.) Lastly, it has been rumoured that ForTec Medical and AMS Laserscope parted ways some time ago. Apparentely, AMS would not sell the HPS Greenlight laser to ForTec, which is in high demand these days. ForTec managed to get their hands on a HPS laser through a surgeon, and continued to rent the laser all over the United States for many months past the preventative maintenance due date. I understand that the only qualified organization to perform PM's on this particular laser is laserscope. ForTec continued to rent this laser for up to 9 months without the proper PM checks. Last time I checked, this was surgery...not Durand's Rent-All! Please use caution when using this company!