Heard at the Show

"I'm here mainly to find out what people in Round 1 are experiencing so we can gauge how to go forward in Round 2 … Depending on what the bid rate is [will determine] whether or not we're going to actually sign, even if we get selected to sign. We diversified four years ago into retail, and that's where we've been trying to go. We're at the point now where if we didn't have a Medicare contract, there would be a lot of layoffs, but I think we would survive."

— Brad Maurer, Freedom Medical Supply, Henderson, Nev.

"I'm in Round 2 of competitive bidding as the owner of a small durable medical equipment company in Porterville, Calif. It's scary. You've to figure it out. You have no choice. If you do Medicare you have to bid, or else I don't see how you'd stay in business."

— Janet Round, RN, CWCN, CWS, AWCS Medical, Porterville, Calif.

"We are a multiple-location company with a location that is falling into a competitive bidding area for Round 2, and part of the reason why we're here … is to get some idea as to what we can do to help better prepare for the bidding process as well as hear about ways to weather the storm. Honestly, it is a much darker picture than what I anticipated. There are lots of fears in our area because Oklahoma has not experienced any Round 1 bidding, so the horror stories that we've heard have mainly been from publications. Hearing some first-hand experience, it hits it home a little bit harder as far as what we have to do as a company to prepare."

— Jon Mayfield, regional sales manager, Central Health Services, Shawnee, Okla.

"I see [retail] as the future of the HME business. I don't think the other model is going to survive."

— Laura Berry, president, Soundview Medical Supply, Seattle, Wash.

"I've been in this industry for over 30 years and this is the scariest time. We have worked hard, but reimbursement-wise and with other things like audits, I think that the government is so aggressive these days that I don't know that they really care whether you try hard to be perfect."

— Jan Wallace, vice president of business administration, Performance Home Medical, Kent, Wash.