Mood Swings at Medtrade Spring: From Uncertain to Upbeat, Life Will Be Different

LAS VEGAS—When Chris Kinard asked Medtrade Spring
attendees to describe the HME industry’s current condition in
one word, 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 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, 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.

Most show-goers were considering that question from the perspective
of competitive bidding, the topic that drew the most interest on
the conference schedule.  Some providers said the January
implementation of Round 1 shocked them into coming to grips with
the program, although they were still dreading its effects. While
the
introduction of H.R. 1041 has reenergized the industry’s
grassroots effort to repeal the bidding system, providers who have
already moved into retail or those who have moved away from
Medicare had a more upbeat take on the future.

“My philosophy on retail is that it’s something you can
use to leverage whatever else you do. Our plan is to perhaps take
minimal Medicare reimbursement just to get in contact with that
consumer and introduce them to all the new technology that’s
out there,” said Jim Greatorex, president and CEO of Black
Bear Medical, Portland, Maine.

“At Medtrade, every year it’s exciting because we see
nothing but opportunity. When we shop, we get to look at all these
new entrepreneurs that have new technology that could be in
categories we feel people are willing to pay for. The one thing our
industry has that we’ve got to remember is that we have
demand,” Greatorex said. “It’s never-ending.
We’ve got to figure out how to capitalize on
that.”

“Providers need to see that they can plan not to be
in the Medicare business,” said Rose Schafhauser, executive
director of the Midwest Association for Medical Equipment Services
(MAMES). “Even if they do get a contract [under competitive
bidding], life is going to be different, so they need to start
planning now.

“There are so many things to look at,” Schafhauser
said. “Could you go into home modification? Retail? Internet
sales? Too many providers are making the basic assumption that they
will get a contract, but if you do that, you’re still putting
all of your eggs in the Medicare basket.”

The lesson, said long-time industry champion and eternal optimist
Sheldon “Shelly “ Prial, who has attended Medtrade
shows with bride Thelma for 30 years, is that “the time has
come to forget how you did business in the past and learn how to do
business today.

“There are ideas here that you can use,” said Prial.
“It’s time to get up off your derriere and go to work
to maintain your business, maintain your customers and maintain
your sanity.”

Here’s what others at Medtrade Spring had to say about the
reality of competitive bidding, the menace of Medicare audits and
the promise of retail.

“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.

“Everybody is concerned with competitive bidding and Round 2
being implemented and what it is going to do to their business.
Medicare only makes up 18 percent of my revenue so it’s not a
big revenue stream for me, and I’m not as concerned about
whether I bid or don’t bid … I can come to Medtrade and
look for good pricing instead of being worried about where my
business is going to be in six to 12 months and about whether I
will be open for business or go out of business.”
—Darren Tarleton, president and CEO, Mobility Warehouse,
Stockbridge, Ga.

“The thing that concerns us most is competitive bidding, so
we’re trying to get ready for Round 2. I wouldn’t say
we are scared, but we are concerned and hesitant about it because
we’re thinking about our profits. We are just trying to make
sure we’re up to date on everything, and we’re also
looking at all the new products coming out to try to bring up our
revenue.”
—Azania Salazar, Performance Excellence Medical, Houston,
Texas