Heard at Medtrade

There were all sorts of hot topics discussed at Medtrade 2005, held Oct. 18-20 in Atlanta. As usual, attendees have their own feelings about the issues:

By HomeCare Staff

There were all sorts of hot topics discussed at Medtrade 2005, held Oct. 18-20 in Atlanta. As usual, attendees have their own feelings about the issues:

On growing business: “We’re looking at all of our product lines and looking at expanding in cash. Any direction other than Medicare is a good direction at this point, not counting on only Medicare dollars. The retail area has been good for us, so we’re wanting to expand that, whether it’s cash power … or the whole variety of products [like] support stockings and wellness items that we’re looking at to continue the cash flow.”
— Kim Gustafson, sales/marketing manager, Health E-Quip, Hutchinson, Kan.

On the supplier quality standards: “It’s very scary with accreditation and the new standards that Medicare has come up with. We’re in a small area, so I think we’re going to have a little more time to think about it and deal with it, but we’re going to have to get a lot more efficient and stay on top of our business more and more every day. We think HME is going to be a growth area for our pharmacy. About 20 percent of our business now is HME — hospital beds, home oxygen, CPAP, wound supply, just about everything — and we would like to grow that.”
— Chris Staker, owner, Staker’s Service Drugs, Portsmouth, Ohio
On provider productivity: “If competitive bidding goes through in its current form, there will have to be a whole new level of sophistication out there for providers to survive. That sophistication is going to have to be manifested in business operations and increasing productivity every single day, not just doing it now but constantly reevaluating how things are done and finding better, cheaper and faster ways to do things — and to be able to document that while maintaining quality care and profitability.”
— Bently Goodwin, CEO, RemitData, Dallas, Texas
On the MMA: “With the Medicare Modernization Act, it’s survival of the fittest, and there’s nothing you can do about it except figure out how to [deal with it] or close up shop. When the time comes, we’ll formulate plans on how to deal with it, but right now, I’m not going to let what’s coming up in the more distant future affect what our immediate future is. I’m here shopping to stock out a new store, and if I can’t get involved in competitive bidding, I’ll pull out and go to over-the-counter sales … There’s more than one way to skin a cat, and you have to eat an elephant a little bit at a time.”
— Justin Rogers, general manager, Primary Medical Supply, Midland, Texas
On the mobility LCD and coding delay: “The delay in the power wheelchair HCPCS codes and the draft [local coverage determination] with power mobility is a significant delay for the industry, and I think allowed us to really dodge a bullet relative to what was getting ready to happen to our industry. The real, positive aspect is that we get to go back and make sure that the HCPCS codes align with the way clinicians prescribe technology, the way consumers utilize technology, and then to ensure that the LCD that comes out truly aligns with those clinical needs. In addition, it is going to afford us an opportunity potentially to change the entire processing template by which CMS determines new HCPCS codes.”
— Rita Hostak, vice president, government relations, Sunrise Medical, Longmont, Colo.

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