Roger Valine

If it wasn't for Marie, Roger Valine might never have become president and CEO of Vision Service Plan. Marie is the woman he met while still in college, and as he tells it, "The moment I saw her I knew I was going to ask her to marry me." Well, he waited a few years to do that, but that first meeting laid the foundation for what was to become his entrance and rise within one of the largest managed vision care companies in the nation.

Marie was a bookkeeper for the then-titled California Vision Plan (which later became VSP) in Sacramento, and she took him to the company's Christmas party, where he met then-president John O'Donnell. The two clicked, Valine took a job as a management trainee, and three weeks later asked Marie to marry him.

That was in 1973. Under his leadership, VSP's revenues grew from $442 million in 1992 to $1.1 billion in 1998. He also started VSP's Sight for Students program, which provides children at or near the poverty level in need of eyecare with vouchers for treatment and eyewear from VSP member doctors. Today, Valine, 50, still lives in California with Marie, and their three children, Gina, 23, Anne Marie, 21, and Joe, 16.

You started at VSP in 1973 as a management trainee, and stayed. What has kept you there, and to what do you attribute your rise from trainee to president?

My family has been in the Sacramento area since 1860, and Marie's family was in that area, too. So that's a big reason. But the main reason was (former president) John O'Donnell. I was impressed by him as a business person and as a human being. Why the rise? A lot of good fortune, really. Being at a company that was in it's beginning phase was exciting and held a lot of opportunity. And I think I probably worked harder than the average person. I knew I wanted to be president some day.

Do you think managed care has gotten a bad rap during its growth over the past few years?

The term managed care is widely used. When most people use it, they refer to HMOs. Sometimes the way HMOs work is not patient-friendly, or doctor-friendly. I think we are different in that: we don't attempt to restrict care for our patients. We guarantee 100 percent satisfaction for our patients. I don't think we have the same type of dissatisfaction from a patient standpoint of managed care.

From a provider standpoint, there are similar feelings. In some ways, doctors love us because we are a significant portion of their practice. On the other side, I think there may be some anxiety on the doctor's parts because we represent such a large portion of their practice, and have concerns about will we ever change our position about having them on our panel, or what will happen to us or what will happen to them. I think the number of managed care plans can represent complexity for the doctor, and I understand that. I think the bad rap is sometimes unjustified, but other times understandable.

Does managed care spell doom for the independent practitioner?

From the position of VSP, no. Our vision care plan is one of the positive aspects in retaining prosperity for independent practices. HMOs have moved patients away from doctor's offices. But we're able to bring patients back to independent doctor's offices. We don't restrict what providers our patients go to. But 95 percent of our patients go to our member doctors. And all of our member doctors are independent practitioners.

What are your future goals for the Sight for Students program??

Right now we have nine entities identifying children who meet the criteria. Our goal is to get to helping 50,000 children per year. I think that's a highly leveraged benefit that we can help a child who otherwise might not be doing well in school because they can't see to read, or see the blackboard. It's also a great experience for our staff members, because we get the most amazing letter from children and their families who have been helped through this program.

You lead a very hectic schedule, with a lot of traveling. What keeps you balanced in life? Do you have hobbies?

A big part of my balance in my life is Marie. I don't ever want to be anyone's definition of successful, but miss time with my children or family that can't be regained.

There are four things that have to be in balance. There's my business life. Then there's my family life. There's my personal time; I hunt, I fish, I play golf, I like to ride my motorcycle (a Harley Davidson Heritage softtail).

Then there's also my religious time. Each of those areas have different amounts, obviously, but whenever they are out of balance for too long, I'm just not the same person I like to be. My father was a farmer, and he worked very hard. One of the big things he taught me was that you can love what you do in your work, but nothing is more important than your family. EB