FAST FACTS

What: Medtrade 2001 Expo and Conference
When: Oct. 23-25
Where: Ernest N. Morial Convention Center New Orleans, La.
Features: More than 200 seminars geared to helping attendees run their businesses and hundreds of manufacturers' booths displaying more than 250,000 products. Attended by about 25,000 health care professionals.
Information: 877/693-1013
Web site: www.medtrade.com

WASHINGTON — in the person of Thomas Scully, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — is finally coming to Medtrade.

Scully is scheduled to give the trade show's keynote address at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25. Set to speak for an hour, he will present a Washington update on the latest issues in Medicare and Medicaid, officials said.

It's a visit that's been years in the making, said Louis Feuer, director of education for Medtrade. Feuer said he tried for four years to get a Washington representative to speak at the trade show. Former administrator Nancy Ann Min de Parle turned him down repeatedly. “I think she didn't want to go to Medtrade,” Feuer said.

He said he did not know if the new administrator would take questions from the audience, but he hoped Scully would gain some insights into the industry during his visit.

“At least he'll see the size of the industry if nothing else,” Feuer said. “While we'll learn from him, I think he'll learn what we're all about just [by seeing] the size of the show.”

The show, which will boast more than 200 seminars, is expected to attract about 25,000 attendees, officials said. Some 1,100 companies will put their home health care products on display in the exhibit hall.

Feuer said he hoped Scully's visit would be “just the beginning of Medtrade's relationship with this important office.” He would, he said, like to have a strong Washington presence at successive Medtrades.

While Scully's visit is one of the major highlights of the show, Feuer pointed out some other special features of this year's event.

For the first time, some of the most popular sessions will be expanded from the traditional hour to an hour and a half. “Rehab sessions are always packed,” said Feuer. “There are very few dealers who are not involved in some way in rehab.”

So Medtrade officials decided to lengthen the rehab sessions this year. Should the extra half hour prove popular, officials will “expand [in coming years] on sessions that dealers seem to want to know about,” Feuer said.

Also, he noted, more than 25 of the 200-plus sessions will detail the various elements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

And perhaps one of the most convenient features of this year's show has to do with the handouts. “All of the handouts are on the Web and there are no discs anymore,” Feuer said, noting that when they register, attendees will receive passwords allowing them access to the handouts. “They can download more than 2,500 pages of handouts and make copies of as many as they like for people in their office.”

Since the handouts will be accessible about a month before Medtrade, Feuer said, attendees could bring them along to the show or download them afterward.

Medtrade 2001 Schedule-at-a-Glance

Tuesday, Oct. 23
Registration	7 a.m.-6 p.m.
Educational Sessions	8-11:30 a.m.
Exhibit Hall	10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Kick-off Reception	5-6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 24
Registration	7 a.m.-5 p.m.
Educational Sessions	8-11:30 a.m.
Exhibit Hall	10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 25
Registration	7 a.m.-4 p.m.
Educational Sessions	8-11:30 a.m.
Exhibit Hall	10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Keynote Address	3 p.m.