Like it or not, the hme services industry now has roughly 2 years and 320 days until 2007 when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) must begin to implement competitive bidding nationally and the question on the minds of many industry advocates we spoke with is, “Will the industry use that time wisely?”

What to do depends a little on whom you ask—as we discovered in this year’s “Federal Outlook” feature starting on page 32—but many say the industry must adopt a “plan for the best and prepare for the worst” strategy where companies lobby against competitive bidding at the same time as they prepare to do business under it.

It will be a challenging task as the industry must, while dealing with competitive bidding, also cope with issues such as the CMS crackdown on power wheelchair fraud and next year’s mandatory reimbursement reductions based on the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program median payments. Therefore, staying informed about the latest legislative developments and lobbying strategies will be crucial. At Dealer/Provider we pledge to do our part to keep you on top of developing situations through our magazine, our Midweek Analysis email news service, and “The Advocates’ Corner,” a lobbying resources area at Medtrade Spring that we are co-sponsoring with VNU Expositions, the show organizer.

In addition, with this issue you will notice a change in the magazine. Our cover profile will no longer be the first feature in the magazine. Instead, we are placing our industry news up front to give it added priority. It may seem a small change, but with less than 3 years to go until 2007, all actions will count.

Lena Lindahl
llindahl@medpubs.com