HME Industry Heads Home
If there was such a thing as a home town for the HME industry, Atlanta may well be it. It was here, in a modest series of hotel conference rooms, that Medtrade began, and for nearly 25 years now, HME providers and manufacturers from all parts of the country have made the annual trip here to network, see new products, learn, and, most important of all, buy and sell.

If you are among the 21,000 anticipated to attend this year, you will find so many old favorites and new surprises that it is easy to be a little overwhelmed. Consider the following numbers from VNU Expositions, the Roswell, Ga-based show organizer for Medtrade.

• Square feet of show hall space: more than 300,000.
• Number of NFL football fields that could fit in this space: 5.
• Anticipated number of exhibiting companies: 950 to 1,000.
• Number of educational sessions: more than 180.
• Number of products on display: 250,000.

Since Medtrade lasts only 3 days, October 9-11—4 days if you count October 8, a day of educational events leading up to the show—this means you would need to attend 60 educational sessions, view more than 83,000 products, and stop by more than 300 booths each day to see everything. And that is not to mention the special events, such as those taking place at Medtrade Meeting Place—which includes the Grassroots Central lobbying area, Meet the Speaker, and the Medtrade Bookstore—the Kick-off Party and HME Excellence Awards, the daily keynote presentations, the Billing Boot Camp, and the various private parties hosted by exhibitors, such as Pride Mobility Products, VGM & Associates, and Permobil.

“Based on conversations with some of the manufacturers, I think they’re really pulling out all the stops this year,” says Cory Smith, group show director for VNU Expositions. “I think attendees are going to see a lot of new products, a lot of innovation, and some promotions that should be attractive to take part in. They are also going to see a lot of new faces and a lot of new exhibits from some of the leading companies.”

So whether this is your first Medtrade or your 24th, you will need a plan to get the most out of the show. To assist you, we present our guide to Medtrade over the following pages. Enjoy!

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Time to Hit the Books
Medtrade will host hundreds of educational events this year, with a focused effort on offering providers the knowledge they need to better market their referral sources, according to Cory Smith, group show director for VNU Expositions, Roswell, Ga, the company that runs Medtrade.

In addition to five referral source marketing education sessions, a new miniconference called “Referral Source Strategies: How to Become a Preferred Provider” is scheduled for Friday, October 10, from 9:45 am to 10:45 am (part 1) and 11 am to noon (part 2).

Plus, this year’s meeting is colocated with the Academy of Certified Case Managers Eastern Regional Conference on October 10-11. Attendees of the academy’s conference will have full access to the Medtrade show.

“Ultimately, we feel that the patients will benefit by having case managers who have greater knowledge about the products and services of the HME provider, and the providers will benefit by understanding the role of the case manager in the patient care plan,” Smith says.

The rest of the Medtrade educational offerings will start October 8 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta and proceed until October 11.

Each morning will begin with an opening session from 7:30 am to 8:30 am. They are:

Thursday, October 9—The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) Washington Update

Friday, October 10—The Outlook for HME: 2004-2008, provided by The Weeks Group’s competitive intelligence team

Saturday, October 11—Motivational speaker Timothy S. Mescon, a business professor with a background in entrepreneurship and business marketing.

The regular conference program will provide seminars on accreditation, customer service/management strategies, home health nursing/clinical issues, information technology, legal and legislative issues, pharmacy, professional development, rehabilitation, reimbursement, respiratory, and sales and marketing.

Finally, Medtrade 2003 also will host a variety of miniconferences that require separate registration. These include:

Tuesday, October 7—Billing Boot Camp, an all-day session presented by the VGM Group and JB&C Services.

Tuesday, October 7, and Wednesday, October 8—The Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Fundamentals Course in Assistive Technology.

Thursday, October 9, 11 am to 12 pm—Medicare Unrobed: A Look at Your Best Payer’s Expenditures 2000-2002.

Friday, October 10, 5:15 pm-7 pm—Open meeting of the National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers.

The cost of the educational sessions, the exposition, and the AAHomecare-sponsored Continuum of Care conference (see following story) is $390. For just the educational session and access to the exposition, the price is $225.

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Continuum of Care Returns
The American Association for Homecare’s all-day workshop on October 8 at Medtrade 2003 in Atlanta aims to provide practitioners, clinicians, and therapists with access to the latest clinical and practice protocols.

In its second year, the workshop, called Continuum of Care, begins with a 7 am continental breakfast and registration. Then, from 8 am to 5 pm, attendees can choose from one of three session tracks: Home Health Nursing/Clinical, Re/habilitation & Assistive Technology, or Respiratory/Sleep-Disordered Breathing.

Each track includes five to six presentations by field experts. Continuing education units are available from the Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America, the American Association for Respiratory Care, the Visiting Nurse Association, and the National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers.

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Grassroots Central Makes Advocating for Home Health Care Easy
While Medtrade is a busy time for almost everyone involved, it is also a critical time to get caught up on state and national legislative issues that could impact your company in the coming months. This year getting informed is more critical than ever as Congress may be considering many home health care provisions within the Medicare prescription drug bill while the show is going on.

Fortunately, the Medtrade show organizers and Home Health Care Dealer/Provider have simplified this task by bringing together many of the industry’s grassroots lobbying resources in a single 1,500-square-foot area of the Medtrade show floor.

At Grassroots Central in the Medtrade Meeting Place—which is located at the end of the 5,000 aisle in Hall B5 of the Georgia Congress Center—you will find state associations, national legislative experts, computers with Internet access for emailing letters to your legislators right from the show floor, and special presentations, including an appearance by Kay Cox, president and CEO of the American Association for Homecare, which is endorsing the event.

The event schedule is as follows:

October 9
11 am—Rita Hostack, vice president of government relations for Sunrise Medical, Longmont, Colo, will be in the Grassroots Central area to answer attendees’ questions about the rehab technology coding effort she has been working on as chair of AAHomecare’s Re/hab and Assistive Technology Council, as well as other legislative issues.

1:30 pm—Martin Szmal, director of government affairs for Pride Mobility Products, Exeter, Pa, will speak about Pride’s involvement in industry lobbying. (See “Speaker Profile” on page 35 for more details.)

2 pm—Medicaid-Cuts Panel

As states across the nation grappled with decreasing tax revenues due to the recession, Medicaid became a popular target for cuts this year. If you are in a state currently facing such cuts or think your state might be next, you need to hear the experience of our panel participants from the Alabama Durable Medical Equipment Association, the California Association of Medical Product Suppliers, the Wisconsin Association of Medical Equipment Services, the Association of Indiana Home Medical Equipment Services, the North Carolina Association of Medical Equipment Services (NCAMES), and the Midwest Association of Medical Equipment Services.

3 pm—Joe Priest, president of AirSep Corp, Buffalo, NY, gives his perspective on how current legislative issues could impact the respiratory market.

October 10
11 am—A. Malachi Mixon III, chairman and CEO of Invacare Corp, Elyria, Ohio, speaks about Invacare’s long-time involvement in lobbying for home health care, the current status of the industry’s legislative issues, and how vital it is for HME providers to help advocate for their profession.

1:30 pm—Darren Jernigan, director of government affairs for Permobil Inc, Lebanon, Tenn, will speak about Permobil’s role in the passage of a licensure law for Tennessee rehab providers. (See “Speaker Profile” on page 35 for more information.)

2 pm—State Licensure Panel

When it comes to state licensure of home health care equipment and service providers, emotions can run high. Is it a way to improve industry standards or just another legal burden on an already over-regulated industry? Whichever way you feel, you will want to attend our panel featuring participants from the Ohio Association of Medical Equipment Services, the Florida Association of Medical Equipment Services, the Nevada Association of Medical Products Suppliers, the Alabama Durable Medical Equipment Association/Georgia Association of Medical Equipment Services, the North Carolina Association of Medical Equipment Services (NCAMES), and the Midwest Association of Medical Equipment Services.

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Speaker Profile: Martin Szmal
Many providers may have no idea that for about a year now, Pride Mobility Products Corp has been quietly influencing politicians’ views on matters that affect the HME industry. But it was not the intention of the Exeter, Pa-based company to keep a low profile, according to Martin Szmal, director of government affairs. It is just that he and the company have been busy.

“I don’t think it’s a sense of going public so much as we have been doing things with the senators and representatives and [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] and really haven’t done anything to notify the HME industry,” Szmal says. “Now we think it’s important that providers know that we’re up there fighting for what’s in their best interest and the industry’s best interest.”

Pride’s grassroots efforts began at last year’s Medtrade with a fund-raiser for Senator Chuck Grassley (D-Iowa), who at the time had a neutral position on competitive bidding due to the lack of an alternative. After the event, Szmal met with the senator a number of times and worked with him in the Committee on Finance, pushing the idea of a CPI freeze as an alternative for savings. Grassley finally agreed.

More recently, Szmal traveled with three Connecticut providers to New Britain, Conn, to speak with Representative Nancy Johnson (R-Conn). After listening to Szmal and his cohorts explain the repercussions of competitive bidding, Johnson told them she would not support competitive bidding language.

“She’s one of the [Medicare Prescription Drug Conference] conferees, so I think she’s a very influential person making that statement,” Szmal says.

Pride takes accomplishments such as Johnson’s announcement in stride, pushing forward with anti-competitive bidding lobbying and in other legislative areas, including advocating “reasonable and attainable” federal licensure and accreditation requirements and Medicare regulatory reform in regard to extrapolation. The company also has developed a consumer-focused area of its Web site where mobility products’ users can learn about current legislation and download and send an open letter to Congress about the inappropriateness of competitive bidding.

Szmal will speak at Grassroots Central on October 9 at 1:30 pm.

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Speaker Profile: Darren Jernigan
Much of the funding and work behind the Tennessee credentialing law—which requires providers of long-term use, power wheelchairs to employ at least one credentialed rehabilitation technology professional, and by 2007, that person must be certified as an Assistive Technology Supplier or an Assistive Technology Provider or be an prosthetist/orthotist—came from Permobil Inc, Lebanon, Tenn.

Darren Jernigan, director of government affairs, helped draft the legislation and—with input from doctors, nurses, dealers, therapists, and other manufacturers—push the law through the state legislature. The company even spent $20,000 on a lobbying firm.

Now that Permobil has the Tennessee legislation under way, it is turning its eyes to the rest of the nation. “Our initial goal was to get this legislation passed in our home state of Tennessee,” Jernigan says. “Having achieved this milestone, we have now turned our attention to supporting quality DME dealers who share the same vision as Permobil in seeing other states pass this type legislation.”

Currently, the company is working with dealers and legislators in roughly 15 general assemblies across the United States with bills slated for introduction in the spring of 2004, including Florida, Missouri, New York, Texas, and Virginia.

Jernigan will speak at Grassroots Central on October 10 at 1:30 pm.

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Medtrade Loosens Its Collar
After a long first day of trekking across the exhibit hall and listening astutely to numerous expert speakers, some might welcome a few moments of respite at the Medtrade Kick-off Party. The festivities will begin Thursday, October 9, at 5:30 pm, following the close of the exhibit hall. Tickets cost $40.

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Try Your Luck
Medtrade in Atlanta may not be set in a gambling town like Las Vegas, where Medtrade Spring is held, but there are no shortages of opportunities to try to win prizes on the exhibit hall floor. Consider the following contests and offers from companies exhibiting this year:

• Try the TuffSat® Toss durability challenge from Datex-Ohmeda, Madison, Wis, and be registered to win a free TuffSat handheld pulse oximeter. The challenge takes place at booth No. 4068. One drawing will be held daily. For more information, call (608) 221-1551.

• Order any MEDdirect EXO brace from MEDdirect Wholesale, Irvine, Calif, at booth No. 353 and receive a free 20-inch nylon duffle travel bag. For more information, call (800) 652-1135.

• Sterling Star Corp, St Petersburg, Fla, is offering a $1,000 show discount at booth No. 3769. For more information, call (866) 933-3783.

• Visit Mentor Corp, Santa Barbara, Calif, at booth No. 935 for a chance to win a free Continence Center floor display that can be stocked with hundreds of male external catheters and leg bags. For more information, call (800) 328-3863.

• Spin the “Wheel of Fortune” at booth No. 427 to win a panda or other prizes from MP Total Care, Tampa, Fla. For more information, call (800) 424-0920