If you're looking for the hippest tunes, don't bother stealing my iPOD. However, if you are after a bit of competitive bidding wisdom, have a listen. Interspersed with a steady diet of Jack Johnson songs, I now walk my dog to the soothing tones of Tom Ryan's voice. For a change of pace, I flip to Vernon Pertelle, Kim Brummett, Jeff Baird, and Karyn Estrella. All five of these luminaries were kind enough to participate in HME Today's  first-ever multipart Podcast series on the competitive bidding final rule. If your eyes are a bit weary from too much reading, listening to these interviews may be a nice change of pace. Just go to our podcast page, because all interviews will be available for 2 months.

While all five interviews are interesting and worth a listen, Jeff Baird gets the "did he just say that?" award. Here's a sample: "It would not surprise me to see an HME company enter into arrangements with physicians, OTs, PTs, and other clinicians to sell products under their [the clinicians'] provider numbers," Baird says. "In other words, if we have Joe's HME in Cincinnati and Joe's HME is not awarded a contract ... a resourceful HME company may start approaching doctors, OTs, and PTs, saying, 'Let me help you get into the business, and I will help you run your crutches, canes, walkers, and off-the-shelf orthotics business. I will bring to the table the inventory and expertise, and you—doctor, OT, or PT—can sell to your patients.' So it will be interesting to see how this plays out."

Did he just say that? Yes, he did. The good news is that those clever attorneys at Brown & Fortunato will be contributing regularly to HME Today with more semisubversive theories in the months to come.

One thing we know about the months ahead is that you will be looking for solid information about competitive bidding (and alternatives to it). With a monthly publication, it's not always easy to keep up with the latest hot news and advice—and that's why the Internet is so important.

A day after the final rule came out, we were excited to use the Internet (via the Top News  section) to publish the industry's first comprehensive article of analysis and reaction (a full week before our friendly competitors).

Where will the industry be a year from now? Are there viable alternatives to comp bidding—either by working with clinicians or by subcontracting with large providers? We will relentlessly pursue these questions in 2007, so stay tuned.

Greg Thompson

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