Mood Swings at Medtrade Spring

When Chris Kinard asked Medtrade Spring attendees to describe the HME industry's current condition in one word, some of the responses he got were "catastrophe," "chaos," "uncertainty," "change" and "craziness."

Those answers, said Kinard, market analyst for software vendor QS1, reminded him of the old "Hee Haw" TV show song:

"Gloom, despair, and agony on me, Deep, dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all, Gloom, despair, and agony on me."

"When I think about the HME industry, this is the song we're all singing, and for the life of me I can't figure out why," Kinard told his audience in a conference session on retail technology. "You can choose to speak an absolute curse over yourself and your business by walking around with this black cloud, but there are ways to overcome it.

"I've never been more convinced about the opportunities in our industry," Kinard continued. It's just that working through exactly which opportunities fit your business will take some effort, he said, whether it's committing to HME retail or through some other avenue.

That's what attendees at the annual spring trade show, held April 12-14 in Las Vegas, were trying to figure out. More than 320 exhibitors, including some 70 first-timers, were there to help.

In only a few examples from the Expo floor — 3,500 square feet bigger than last year's, according to show officials — VirtuOx introduced its Freedom wireless oximetry platform, which company officials say could shave up to $75 off a provider's cost per test by lessening the number of visits to a patient's home.

Pride Mobility rolled out its Rental Ready program to help providers transition to the rental environment post-elimination of the first-month purchase option for power wheelchairs. The company's Jazzy Select Elite, for example, includes a color-through shroud that won't show scratches, a black seat with replaceable foam and vinyl and controller guards to protect the chair from daily wear and tear. "It's all the features that can make it easier for the provider to put the chair back out if it comes back in," said the company's Joe Chesna, national sales director, standard power.

Numerous software makers offered new features to help providers fix their weak spots, pick up speed, increase efficiency and generally manage better.

"We're finally starting as business owners to see that if we are going to continue not only to survive but to thrive in this industry, we're going to have to go back to the drawing board and ask, 'What are we doing and why are we doing it?'" said Kinard.