About BLACK HORSE STRATEGIES

Brett Sisson began his supply chain career at Inova Health System in northern VA, as a materials manager for the Surgical  Center for Women. In this role, he began to develop his knowledge of  medical/surgical product as well as a general understanding of the medical supply chain. In order to broaden his experience with the  supply chain process, he accepted a role managing the procurement  vehicles within the health system’s MMIS (Lawson).

After gaining a well-rounded knowledge of medical supply chain Inova,  he applied this knowledge as Director of Materials Management at  Culpeper Regional Hospital. There he assumed responsibility for all  aspects of procurement, contracts and distribution.  After several years  of promoting positive change within the organization, he considered  other avenues to affect change globally.  The positive relationships he  had established through the years with medical/surgical suppliers  fostered a further interest in that arena.

Brett accepted a role as Sales Executive for Owens & Minor, working  specifically in the area of unitized and surgical procedure delivery (SurgiTrack). This opportunity led to an engagement with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to apply similar concepts, utilizing a wider  breadth of product.  His years of product knowledge and project  management experience, coupled with the support of his teammates at  O&M, he increased sales revenue to the company from $1.2 million to  greater than $25 million in less than 3 years.  More importantly,  O&M was able to reduce cost associated with the supply chain as well  as provide improved performance (reduced product lead-time, reduced  product cost) to the war-fighter.

These accomplishments, in conjunction with the never-ending need to  make a difference, Brett accepted the role as Director of National  Accounts, responsible for O&M’s Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor  Contract with DLA. Brett managed the operations and sales team that  surpassed its revenue goal by over $30 million in 2014, an achievement  attributed to that team.

 Karen Triggs began her healthcare industry  experience as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist specializing in Blood  Bank, at Vidant Healthcare, the largest hospital system serving Eastern  North Carolina.  Karen’s passion for patient care led  her to perform antibody screen testings, along with complex antibody  work-up for sickle cell, hematology/oncology and hyper-transfused  patients and prepared blood products to replace component deficiencies  of the body indicated by the laboratory results.

After years of working in the lab, she decided to  venture out and gain skills in population health as a Field Technical  Representative with Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, a J&J company in the  AIDS/Hepatitis Division.  Karen provided support  with installation and troubleshooting of instrumentation necessary for  viral testing for Elisa-Immunoassay (EIA) for AIDS/Hepatitis across the  United States.  This career opportunity enhanced her productivity,  efficient work habits, strong organizational and  time management skills.  She also increased her self-motivation and  willingness to serve which has led professionally to her consistent  delivery of heightened customer service. Equipped with these skills  allowed her to manage customer sites to meet regulatory  guidelines and sensitive time-frames resulting in high customer  satisfaction.

Three years after working for J&J, Karen  transitioned to the Fortune 500 company, Owens & Minor, a leading  medical surgical distributor.  In her 13 years, Karen worked both the  commercial and military hospital markets which resulted in  territory sales growth from $6 million to $50 million.  By Karen  successfully managing and surpassing her sales goal, she won Sales  Excellence which is only awarded to the top 3% of the Sales Team. 

Additionally, Karen won the 3M Rapid Growth Promotion Award,  a national recognition of the top three representatives. Karen’s 26 year Healthcare Industry career, 19 of  those exclusive in military and commercial Supply Chain Medical Surgical  distribution sales is propelling her to innovate Black Horse Strategies  and create a footprint for the future.