When hospitals need reliable and accurate monitoring of
critical nervous functions during surgery, they look to Evokes Inc. in Mason,
Ohio to avoid the potential risks that accompany these sensitive operations.
The company provides the equipment and personnel to ensure the health of a
patient’s peripheral and central nervous systems while the patient is on the
operating table.
Using a laptop computer with neuromonitoring software and
30-60 electrode needles on the body, Evokes technicians send electric impulses
to various areas of the brain and monitor those responses in corresponding body
parts. Meanwhile, the professionals remain in constant contact with the surgeon.
If anything goes wrong, the technicians tell the doctor to take appropriate
action, sometimes requiring the patient to be taken off the operating table.
After learning about the neuromonitoring industry through
her prior employment, Tiffany Frye started Evokes with Jan Mayder in 2000. A true family-run business, Tiffany’s husband
Robert and her mother Sandy also help with the business on the administration
side. Tiffany and Jan saw a huge need for neuromonitoring in the Dayton area. They
were able to prove to hospitals that it is more cost efficient to outsource neuromonitoring
services to Evokes.
Since the company’s inception, additional hospitals from
Ohio, Kentucky, the Carolinas, Michigan and Pennsylvania have all contracted
with Evokes to monitor their patients. Now, Evokes ranks within the top five
companies in the nation in their field, while remaining one of few that are still
independently owned. While cost efficiency leads companies to outsource, it is
Evokes’ intense training program that separates them from their competitors.
The company has approximately 45 technicians across six
states, and all of have gone through an intensive 18 month fellowship program.
Where other companies train their employees in three months, Evokes uses a year
and a half to maximize the detail and accuracy to which their technicians can
analyze the nervous system. Evidently, it makes a huge difference. When asked
why he chooses Evokes over other neuromonitors, one surgeon said “Evokes goes
400 times above and beyond anyone else.”
Though Evokes is making headwind as an industry leader,
several legislative obstacles remain in their path. As an employer, the company
wants to retain the right to screen potential employees for felonious records
and U.S. citizenship, both of which are required for hospital clearance and
employment. However, recently introduced legislation could prohibit these
questions on job applications, wasting time for Evokes in their search for
employees.
Additionally, the business encounters hurdles while
contracting government hospitals. The Affordable Care Act has forced them to
cut 10-40% of their contracts as they struggle to retain their profitability.
The staff at Evokes are active with NFIB, attending the
Butler/Warren Area Action Council in West Chester, Ohio. Like many small
business owners, Evokes joined NFIB in 2009 because they have, “too much on
their plate to be active in government,” and as Robert Frye puts it, “NFIB
lobbies for your well-being and your paycheck as a small business owner.”
