Good Times, Long Lines
Can one have too much of a good thing? As Medtrade Spring organizers struggled to get the line of attendees stretching out the door of the Las Vegas Convention Center exhibit hall registered and on to visiting with exhibitors, they might have agreed.
According to Cory Smith, group show director for VNU Expositions, the show organizer, some attendees had to wait up to an hour and a half for on-site registration on May 7, the first day of the 2-day show.
“From an attendance standpoint, [Medtrade Spring] again exceeded expectations,” he said. “We have got to do a better job of planning for on-site [registration]. We’ve had meetings to make sure those problems are addressed. It was disturbing to see people standing in line for as long as they did. ... We want them on the show floor being productive.”
According to Smith, show attendance was between 5,500 and 6,000, a 7% to 10% increase over the previous year.
In total, the show has come a long way since a name change in 2000 from The Futures Show to Medtrade West and then later to Medtrade Spring. Since 2000, attendance has grown 43%, Smith said, in part due to the repositioning of the show as a Medtrade-branded midyear buying event and in part due to the challenges the HME industry faces.
“I would say the industry challenges are probably the greatest reason for the upturn in attendance,” Smith said. “People feel the need to be associated with their colleagues and to be closer with their suppliers to make sure they are getting the best possible value from their suppliers.”
Last year, the educational conference sold out on the first day, and the additional space allocated for education this year ensured packed halls between the sessions.
With the departure of Louis Feuer of Dynamic Seminars and Consulting, Atlanta, as primary director of education for the Medtrade Shows—a position he held for more than 15 years—VNU announced it is teaming with the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare), Alexandria, Va, to put together the Medtrade Atlanta conferences and the Medtrade Spring conferences until the end of 2004.
“The partnership was a logical choice,” Smith said, citing both Medtrade and AAHomecare’s growth over the past few years and AAHomecare’s expertise in major legislative and regulatory issues affecting the industry.
Currently, AAHomecare plans to continue holding its separate continuing education sessions, the Continuum of Care, while helping to run the regular Medtrade educational conference.
HME Dealers Take Tornadoes in Stride
The record number of tornadoes that ripped through the Midwest in early May fortunately made little impact on HME providers in the region. As residents of Oklahoma and Kansas cleaned up debris caused by some of the 412 tornadoes that formed between May 4 and May 10—the most in a single week since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began tracking tornadoes in 1950—HMEs tended to their most vulnerable patients.After tornadoes hit the Oklahoma City area, Canadian Valley Medical Solutions Inc instituted its disaster preparedness protocol, which included following the storm and calling its oxygen and ventilator patients to make sure they were safe and their electricity was on. Of its approximately 400 oxygen-dependent patients, only 10 to 15 lost electricity because of the storm and needed the company to deliver tanks to them, says Cynthia Gray, vice president of clinical services for Canadian Valley Medical Solutions. The only problems the company’s drivers faced were spectators who caused traffic snarls while they were trying to deliver the oxygen, Gray says. Other Oklahoma City-area HME companies got off even easier than Canadian Valley. A representative from Oklahoma Rehab Inc says that none of the company’s patients experienced any damage or were affected by the tornadoes. In Pittsburg, Kan, Mt Carmel Medical Equipment’s drivers were able to monitor the progress of the tornadoes from their homes. They cross-checked storm damage reports with the demographic information contained in their Palm Pilots, calling patients in affected areas and delivering oxygen to them. As in Oklahoma City, most of the damage was confined, primarily, to power outages, according to Gary L. Miller, Mt Carmel’s chief executive. |
FBI Raid Sinks Rotech Credit Rating
Following an FBI raid on Rotech Healthcare Inc’s headquarters and four other company facilities in three states, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Rating Services downgraded the company’s credit rating from stable to negative.
“The negative outlook reflects that ratings could be lowered if the new federal investigation introduces financial demands or operating constraints that impede Rotech’s ability to perform as expected, to execute its high-margin growth strategy, or to maintain adequate levels of liquidity,” says credit analyst Jill Unferth for S&P, an organization that provides independent investment data valuation, analysis, and opinions to financial decision makers.
When the FBI agents entered the four Rotech facilities on April 30, they gained access to a number of current and historical financial records and other materials, according to a May 1 statement released by the company. The agents also served a grand jury subpoena on the company on behalf of the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois relating to the same information.
Rotech said it was cooperating fully with the investigation, although it had not yet been informed by the government of the subject matter of the inquiry. Both the company and the FBI declined to comment on the incident.
Despite a somewhat shaky past, the Orlando, Fla-based Rotech—a nationwide provider of home respiratory care and DME—had just received a stable rating on an S&P industry report card, released a week before the raid. In February of last year, Rotech paid the government $17 million to settle allegations that the company fraudulently overbilled government health care programs for respiratory equipment, supplies, and service. And only in March 2002 did Rotech emerge from its parent company’s bankruptcy.
Cox Takes Reins at AAHomecare
Kay Cox assumed Thomas Connaughton’s former role of president and CEO of the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare), Alexandria, Va, on June 1. “I am excited to have the opportunity to lead this growing association at a time when home care issues, such as competitive bidding and Medicare co-pays, are at the top of the national Medicare reform agenda,” Cox says. “I look forward to working with AAHomecare’s coalition partners and members to ensure that the needs of home care patients and providers are included and addressed in Medicare legislation.”
With more than 20 years of experience in the health care industry, Cox met all the criteria for potential candidates for the position, according to Steve Knoll, chairman of the AAHomecare board of directors. In the quest to replace Connaughton, the association received 26 applicants and interviewed seven candidates. “Cox’s energy and strategic thinking set her apart from the rest,” Knoll says. “She was as excited about AAHomecare and our mission as any of the candidates. She had excellent contacts and experience on Capitol Hill and in managing her own consultant firm.” Cox most recently served as vice president of the Washington, DC, office and political action committee of Beverly Enterprises, a $2.4 billion company that operates skilled nursing facilities in 26 states. Prior to that, Cox served as president and CEO of a health care consulting group that advised health care providers on public policy issues. In addition, she has managed and coordinated federal contracts with several government agencies, including the Department of Defense, Department of Labor, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Her term will last for 3 years. |
| Letter to the Editor |
| Unity Yes, Denial No As an HME provider for 25 years, I have long been an advocate for one unified voice for our industry. I have seen what that voice can do when channeled in the right direction with the guidance of our informed national lobbyists. Therefore, I am concerned that a provider network would take it upon itself to “Help Independents Remain Independents.” (See the Northwood Inc advertisement on page 24 of the May issue.) Northwood Inc has decided to take the strength of this unified HME industry—including the voices of independents, such as me, and the national HME companies—and, on its own, sell legislators on the network model as a solution to the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) nightmare we now face. The unified industry has continued to let our legislators know that NCB will not work. For example, through the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare), the industry formed the Coalition for Access to Medical Services, Equipment and Technology (CAMSET), an organization of consumer groups and state associations dedicated to fighting NCB. But now, when the Medicare debate is heating up in the 108th Congress and we are again preparing for battle, Northwood wants to help independents by offering a solution: Use our network and we will convince the legislators that NCB can work and will save the independents. Northwood has advertised in the industry trade press to convince us that we are in denial about NCB and it can help me, as an independent, remain independent. I find this message self-serving. This industry must remain united. We should not tolerate a provider network to speak for us. I hope that the readers of this magazine would agree that we need one single message from the industry. I remain determined and ready to spend the time and resources to continue to fight the NCB battle with my national and state associations. I will be in Washington in early June at the AAHomecare Legislative Conference where I will see my fellow independents, my brother nationals, and my aligned consumers fight as one group with one goal. Determined and driven, yes. In denial, no. —Thomas Ryan
President and CEO
Homecare Concepts Inc
Farmingdale, NY
We Want to Hear from You
Please send letters to Editor, Home Health Care Dealer/Provider, 6701 Center Drive West, Suite 450, Los Angeles, CA 90045, or email llindahl@medpubs.com. |
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