Medtrade Spring Preview

Medtrade Spring is set to open next month in Las Vegas, and show producers say this edition of the buying and networking expo — a more intimate version of its fall trade show — will focus on building business and improving quality of life.

To be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, March 16-18, the show will offer more than 75 educational sessions and exhibits from 450 HME manufacturers. Attendees can see the newest products, get an update on grassroots legislative efforts and learn the ins-and-outs of accreditation, soon to be required under the recent Medicare reform law. The spring event comes on the heels of Medicare legislation, just as the home medical equipment industry is looking at the playing board to plan its next move.

“Medtrade Spring in Las Vegas is an opportunity for home health care providers to learn about products, reimbursement and compliance in a setting that encourages networking in an informal environment,” says Joel Mills, CEO of Advanced Home Care in Greensboro, N.C., and chairman of the American Association for Homecare.

For the third year, AAHomecare will present its Continuum of Care half-day conference on clinical and practice protocols for practitioners, clinicians and therapists. Scheduled for Tuesday, March 16, the workshops will focus on respiratory therapy, orthotic and prosthetic fitting, rehabilitation and assistive technology and home health nursing.

Also on March 16, AAHomecare's Accreditation Summit will focus on the accreditation process for providers. The three-hour session will be moderated by Steve Vinci, general manager of Timberlake Corp., Sacramento, Calif., and president of the California Association of Medical Equipment Providers, and will present a comparison of industry accreditation organizations.

Representatives from the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC), the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP), the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and The Compliance Team will give a brief description of their accreditation services, process, benefits and costs. The panelists also will discuss how their programs can best meet the accreditation requirements of HME companies under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. (You can preview the accreditation process in “Mandatory Accreditation” on page 38 in this issue.)