Next Stop Medtrade: Attendees in Search of an Edge

From HomeCareXtra’s Medtrade Planner

ATLANTA — Jennifer Weathers will be looking at Medtrade this year
for that one hot, must-have cash item that will fly off the shelves
at Ken Glover Drug and make it all worth the trip. Last year it was
animal-shaped humidifiers she came across at Crane that became the
hot item during cold and cough season at the Dora, Ala.-based
chain, where she is DMEPOS coordinator. The humidifiers, shaped
like an elephant and a tiger, are reminiscent of local college
football mascots for Alabama and Auburn.

Before Medtrade, Weathers also keeps a to-do list of things to
look for at the show, based on feedback she has received from
customers.

“I’m a list-maker, and I started my list a couple of months
ago,” she said. Among the items on her list this year are diabetic
shoes in smaller sizes and bariatric products. “I have a couple of
new bariatric patients that weigh more than routinely available
products [can accommodate],” noted Weathers, who is also looking to
expand her line of CPAP masks to include more vendors.

There will likely be many shopping lists among the thousands of
HME professionals who converge on the Georgia World Congress Center
next week for Medtrade 2010. On the big to-do list for the industry
as a whole, competitive bidding, proliferating audits and fallout
from health care reform will be looming large at the venerable show
and expo, with providers scrambling — sometimes desperately
— to find products and strategies that will give them an
edge, or at least a glimmer of hope.

With competitive bidding set to roll out Jan. 1, 2011, “dealers
need to reinvent themselves to survive,” said Pat O’Brien, director
of marketing at Golden Technologies, which has been exhibiting at
Medtrade since 1986. This year the manufacturer is celebrating its
25th anniversary. “Providers need to be sure they are fully
informed and fully educated,” O’Brien said of the industry’s
current situation.

With four stores in rural Walker County, Ala., Weathers is
keeping an eye on competitive bidding, but right now her main
purpose is to take part in networking opportunities and “see what
other providers are doing and how we can model after them or share
with them what we are doing that is working,”

She also sees members of the Alabama Durable Medical Equipment
Association (ADMEA) and gets a chance to talk about what’s going
on. “Some of the concerns of providers change [over the years],
from competitive bidding to accreditation to who knows what’s
coming,” she said. “I just try to stay optimistic about it and
remember that I am making a difference in people’s lives.”

Timothy Bates, president of Premier Home Healthcare, Orlando,
Fla., said his goal at the show is to network, learn about new
products, understand what’s going on and possibly “find a new
niche.”

“Really what has intrigued me lately is the home accessibility
improvement market,” said Bates, who got interested in the sector
after meeting with VGM Group at 2009’s Medtrade. Now he’s looking
at home improvement products such as grab bars, ramps and ceiling
lifts.

Tyler Riddle, vice president of MRS Home Care in Albany, Ga.,
grew up in the industry and is the second generation to work in his
family’s HME business, which now has 12 locations in middle and
south Georgia. This trip marks his seventh show as an adult in the
business. Bates said he’ll be looking for any insights on
competitive bidding and the impending elimination of the
first-month purchase option for power wheelchairs.

But, he added, “I look forward to the people more than the
product lines. It’s a great place to network in our industry, and
it’s nice to have the support of other people.”

Riddle will also be looking to promote NoBid.org, a website he
established aimed at helping HME providers spread the message to
beneficiaries about the perils of competitive bidding. “CMS is
telling beneficiaries that competitive bidding is going to be good
for them,” said Riddle. “This is my way of telling my patients how
the program can hurt them …

“I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t care about the patients,”
Riddle said. “You would be a fool to be involved in this market if
you aren’t patient-focused, and that’s what I think will save our
industry. Nothing is set in stone in this industry, and we have to
adapt. We will be more efficient.”

Although Premier’s Bates won six contracts in the original Round
1, he did not win any in the Round 1 rebid. “My personal opinion is
that [competitive bidding] will get implemented Jan. 1 but will be
repealed within six months thereafter,” he said. “I think we are
going to be OK; we are looking for other product avenues, more
retail and expanding into the home improvement market.

“Obviously there is going to be a need for what we do,” said
Bates. “CMS isn’t trying to kill the industry, they are trying to
thin it out to make it easier to control and manage.”

Despite the downside, there is some optimism among those
attending Medtrade 2010.

Riddle said MRS recently celebrated its 30th year in business
and last year retired its first employee. “I am extremely
optimistic,” he said. “As long as there is a breath in my body (and
my father’s body), we will be fine. We have done well at meeting
challenges. This industry is an industry of good people.”