Miami The issue was the future and the role the home health care industry can play in shaping it.

The event was Project Blueprint, the annual leadership conference of the National Association for Medical Equipment Services, held in February at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa, where more than 200 attendees discussed the direction of home care as it heads into the new millennium.

"We're here to provide a snapshot of the industry, encourage leadership in a social setting and talk to each other," said NAMES president and chief executive Bill Coughlan during his opening remarks. "But as the name implies, we also hope to provide a blueprint for the future as our industry encounters the challenges of the new millennium."

That blueprint of the future includes:

* Using the Internet not just as a source for information, but for commercial purposes, as online business increases.

* Re-establishing core competencies to provide businesses with the ability to diversify.

* Redefining the mission of management to effectively meet the challenges of a changing marketplace.

* Creating a strategic plan to establish new goals and review previous ones.

Conference participants discussed those and other issues during four sessions moderated by industry consultants and manufacturers. The sessions focused on strategic planning, management, technology and new markets.

"Individual companies often don't have the opportunity to discuss the various challenges to their business in a setting that is both relaxed and serious," Coughlan said. "[The conference] allows them to explore their own visions and their own problems. They can't help but take with them some good ideas that will help them with their business."

The slight irony of the meeting was its general proximity to Polk County, Fla., the first competitive bidding demonstration site. Though the initiative has yet to be implemented, the issue was a volatile topic of discussion.

"We don't think, especially in light of managed care and the way the marketplace is and the demands of beneficiaries, that competitive pricing has any role in this marketplace," Coughlan said.