Keeping the growth momentum going is as easy as “C, C, C,” according to Todd Christopher, chairman and chief executive officer of the nation's top-ranking private home medical equipment company. “Growing up, we had the three Rs. In business, we have the three Cs: culture, compliance and collections,” he says.

Ensuring that employees understand the company's mission, focusing on same-store growth, centralizing collections and staying compliant are the meat-and-potatoes practices that feed Home Care Supply's success, Christopher explains. And that success shows no signs of waning, he adds, noting that baby-boomers are turning 60 at a rate of nearly 10,000 per day.

“I think our industry has a bright future, despite all the doom and gloom about competitive bidding,” Christopher says. “We feel pretty good about continuing [double-digit] same-store growth during the next five years.”

To channel that growth, Home Care Supply likely will choose one of two directions, as early as 2004: The company will become public or sell its operations to a larger company that is looking to enter the home care market. “I think as long as competitive bidding is unresolved, it's impossible for anybody else to go public, but 2004 is still a good target goal [for selling or going public],” Christopher says.