Medtrade Spring: It’s Bigger, Better and About the Bill

LAS VEGAS — Buoyed by the introduction
of H.R.1041 to repeal competitive bidding, thousands
of home medical equipment providers are expected to travel to
Medtrade Spring next month with a renewed interest in new products
and new ideas.

“H.R. 1041 provides some new optimism [for the industry],” said
Kevin Gaffney, show director for the conference and exhibition,
which will be staged at Las Vegas’ Sands Expo and Convention Center
April 12-14. Medtrade Spring will serve as “control central”
as industry organizations work to engage HME providers in garnering
support for the bill, he said.

“We’re working with the American Association for Homecare, VGM
and The MED Group to have a call to action on site,” said Gaffney,
noting that each organization’s booth will feature messages
providers can use to contact their legislators about the bill.

This year’s AAHomecare Washington Update, scheduled for April
13, will undergird that effort. Tyler Wilson, AAHomecare president,
and Walt Gorski, vice president of government affairs, will provide
an up-to-the-minute look at H.R. 1041’s status, as well as issues
related to mobility, oxygen, audits and other key HME topics.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to help boost
AAHomecare’s public awareness campaign coffers at the Stand Up for
Homecare reception on Tuesday, April 12.

“I think with competitive bidding and the repeal bill out there,
this is a good time for providers to step up and support the Stand
Up for Homecare effort,” Gaffney said. “It’s a nice way to support
the industry as it fights for this repeal.”

The bill won’t be the only buzz at Medtrade Spring, however. The
event, which Gaffney said is on track to draw about 5,000 HME
professionals from all facets of the industry, will feature 85
seminars on topics ranging from the future of oxygen therapy to
building your sleep business and how to pass an unannounced NSC
survey. CEU credits are available for selected sessions.

Show organizers are also responding to requests for more
networking opportunities with a new ‘Lunch and Learn’ session on
April 12. Participants will be able to grab a box lunch and join a
roundtable discussion group on one of six topics such as compliance
programs, inventory/purchasing and an “Ask the Attorneys”
session.

“We have facilitators who will be in the discussion to keep
things moving,” Gaffney said, but basically, the lunchtable
sessions are an opportunity for providers to share their successes,
concerns and questions with others.

“That was based on feedback from attendees who wanted more
peer-to-peer interaction,” Gaffney said. Participation is limited
to 150 people, with registration available online or at the
conference.

In response to other issues facing HME providers, such as the
surge of Medicare audits and interest in building retail business,
Medtrade Spring has added tracks on both, Gaffney said, while a
track on competitive bidding has been expanded.

“Another new feature that we are adding to our conference is a
digital library,” Gaffney said. All of the Medtrade Spring sessions
will be recorded and can, for a fee, be viewed immediately. “You
can ‘attend’ the sessions you missed,” Gaffney said. “With 85
sessions, there is no way to attend every one. And for those folks
who couldn’t make it to the show, they will have the opportunity to
purchase [sessions] as well.”

The Expo show floor is also a highlight at Medtrade Spring. This
year’s event features 275 exhibitors — 61 of whom are
first-timers, said Gaffney.

“New companies are coming on board to exhibit, and the floor is
3,000 square feet larger than last year for the trade show,”
Gaffney said. “For all practical purposes, the space we have at the
Sands is sold out — about 99 percent.”

One of the exhibitors is Coral Gables, Fla.-based VirtuOx, which
is introducing a new wireless oximetry platform using its VPOD
Freedom pulse oximeters. Company officials say the new technology
could shave up to $75 off a provider’s cost per test by lessening
the number of visits to a patient’s home.

It’s an example of how HME manufacturers are finding innovative
ways to help providers cuts costs and become more efficient —
and that should be a drawing card for attendees.

“They are looking for exhibitors and manufacturers to give them
ideas on how they can grow their businesses,” Gaffney said.

That is exactly what Chris Rice of Diamond Respiratory Care in
Riverside, Calif. is seeking. Rice, whose company won multiple
competitive bidding contracts in the Round 1 rebid, said he is
interested in new products on the trade show floor and new ideas
from the seminars.

“We are seeing a lot more products and programs developed for
what we need,” he said, adding, “I want to see what else is out
there.

“What I am looking for is some innovative stuff that we can take
back that will help us do what we need to do,” Rice continued.
“Ideas, services, financial vehicles — what can a particular
company do that is more creative and that we haven’t thought
about?”

That is also what is propelling four representatives of Howard’s
Medical Supply in Selah, Wash., to the show. Aleah Mickelson, a
biller for Howard’s, said they are eager to hear new ideas, get
tips on doing business better and see new products.

Howard’s missed Medtrade Spring last year, she said, so this
year, “we have some gaps we need to fill in — [such as] how
we can navigate the system and still make money.”

She’s eager to learn from her peers, too, especially about
competitive bidding. “The fortunate thing is that we are in a
really small market,” Mickelson said about the company, which
serves a rural population in central Washington. “We get the
benefit of seeing what goes on in the bigger markets, too. That’s
one thing we are looking forward to at Medtrade — to get the
stories and the knowledge of people who have already dealt with
competitive bidding and find out what we can do as it comes toward
us.

“The main thing we are looking for is information.”

For more about the show or to register for Medtrade Spring, go
to www.medtrade.com.