Chris Rice is looking at the value of Medtrade through the prism of competitive bidding. Like any other home medical equipment provider, the director of marketing at Diamond Respiratory Care in Riverside, Calif., is closely monitoring his expenses.
"I questioned as to whether or not to go [to Medtrade]," he said truthfully. After all, flying across the country, from California to Atlanta, Ga., takes a day coming and going, there are hotel and meal expenses and time away from his company.
Still, he decided this was a year he didn't want to miss. With a new round of competitive bidding in the offing, not to mention the constant upheaval in just about every sector of HME, Rice decided a trip to Medtrade in Atlanta could be very helpful.
"Aside from the seminars, I am actually going there to shop," he said. "I want to start comparing prices and see who is going to give us the absolute best prices that we can do a bid on."
Rice said he expects the new round of CMS' competitive bidding project, which is set to be implemented in January 2011, to be worse than last year's aborted round. He needs his bids to be competitive and something he can live with.
"We've done as much as we possibly can do efficiency-wise and cutting our costs in that respect, and now I've got to look at the cost of goods," he said. "So I'm jumping on a plane and I'm going to Medtrade."
Darren Tarleton, president and CEO of Mobility Warehouse in Stockbridge, Ga., doesn't have to go across country — he's only 20 minutes away from the Atlanta show — but he is also going to investigate manufacturers' products and pricing.
"You've constantly got to be looking at those kinds of items and find ways to cut costs," he said. The difference in price might be only $5, he said, but in a reduced reimbursement environment, every $5 counts.
Tarleton said he will also check out the educational tracks for innovative ideas on how to stay in business. "With competitive bidding coming back around, you may not be able to do Medicare in three or five years. It's going to cause me to make some changes around here," he said, noting that 35 to 40 percent of his business is Medicare.
BUILDING A BETTER MEDTRADE
Organizers believe Rice and Tarleton, as well as the thousands of other providers coming to the show, won't be disappointed in what this year's Medtrade — the 30th one — has to offer.
Responding to concerns from exhibitors and attendees alike about declining attendance, tired educational tracks and the absence of key manufacturers, Medtrade management has aligned with top industry stakeholders to build a better conference and expo this year.
That they have made some significant changes is evidenced by the fact that some big players who have been absent for a few years are returning in 2009. Drawn by Medtrade officials' openness to crafting a show that will more acutely address the industry's needs, Invacare is returning to the fall show, which will be held Oct. 12-15 at the Georgia World Congress Center.
The Roho Group and Drive Medical are also back, and other manufacturers, such as Pride Mobility/Quantum Rehab are expanding their presence. In addition, the National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers, which sat out last year's show, is returning. VGM will bring back its 15-company "VGM Village," and The MED Group will sponsor a members pavilion.
"What we have tried to do is listen to exhibitors and attendees and get a better sense of what they want Medtrade to be," said Kevin Gaffney, group show director for Nielsen Business Media.
The "new" Medtrade will feature an intensified focus on advocacy, government affairs and continuing education and training for home care professionals, all features that industry leaders have championed.
"With the support of some of these key companies, we have that commitment to move forward and make some changes that are impactful," Gaffney said.
A key component of a more "impactful" show will be the advocacy piece. Medtrade has inked a 15-year contract with the American Association for Homecare that gives the organization a bigger role in shaping the conference. Medtrade will also provide significant funding to bolster AAHomecare's industry lobbying and advocacy efforts.
"We can't do everything overnight, but we are listening to [everyone's] concerns," Gaffney said.
RENEWED FOCUS ON REHAB
Proof of that is the complex rehab pavilion sponsored by NRRTS, which is designed to heighten the visibility of small rehab providers by corralling them in one large area.
"When a small complex rehab company exhibits at Medtrade, they can get lost in the sea of enteral feeding tubes and diapers and power wheelchairs. It's just not conducive for appropriate traffic flow," said Simon Margolis, executive director of NRRTS. "If you can position like manufacturers and like organizations in a more centralized area, then you can maximize the more valuable traffic that is going to make a difference to these folks in the long run."
For his part, Tarleton said he likes the idea of pavilions.
"It makes it easier if companies that have similar products are grouped together," he said. That will allow him to easily compare products he is interested in and identify any new manufacturers, he said.
Nielsen's willingness to make changes has heartened Margolis. "NRRTS was involved [in Medtrade] in the past and we were uninvolved last year. We decided things weren't going in the right direction," Margolis said.
But things are different this year.
"Medtrade has made a commitment to try and pull in more clinicians, referral sources, etc.," Margolis said.
Encouraged by that, NRRTS has not only come back to Medtrade, it has expanded its participation. In addition to its pavilion, the organization will sponsor two educational programs this year. The first, "Complex Rehab Legislative and Regulatory Update," will be presented by Don Clayback, executive director of NCART, the National Coalition for Assistive and Rehabilitation Technology. The second, "Consumer Self-Advocacy, The Key to the Future of Complex Rehab," will feature Ann Eubank, executive director of the Users First Alliance, and Jeffrey Leonard, publisher of New Mobility.
NRRTS will also have an expanded booth near NCART and RESNA (Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America) to build on "all the influences of these organizations in the same place.
"We'll be there to talk about legislative advocacy, what's going on on Capitol Hill and certification," Margolis said. "We're trying to create a synergy that really works. I think we can do it. If we can pull it off on a small scale this year, then we will work with Medtrade again."
Other new features are on tap for the October show include:
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stronger, more pertinent educational courses, many of which will offer continuing education units at what Gaffney called an "accessible" cost;
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the addition of a "Hot Topics" conference to address up-to-the-minute developments;
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an interactive New Products Pavilion with video presentations and live demonstrations; and
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a last-day consumer-oriented event that will feature a panel discussion of consumer/clinician advocacy, how it works and why it is important. Gaffney said he is working with a number of consumer and clinician groups to attend the session and also enjoy some free time on the exhibit floor where they can see products and talk to manufacturers.
The planned enhancements to Medtrade are garnering strong support from industry stakeholders.
RALLYING BEHIND THE EFFORT
Carl Will, Invacare's senior vice president, homecare, North America, said his company has gone "to great lengths" to work with Nielsen on changing Medtrade's direction. He said he is looking for four components at the newly designed show.
"We want it to be an advocacy show," he said, noting that Medtrade should be the places where all industry stakeholders meet yearly for advocacy, education, and new product information. "The next part is, we want a market of providers but also clinicians and beneficiaries … If you want to show someone what you do, it's not how you do Medicare billing, it's not your income statements — in this industry, it's the interface with clinicians and beneficiaries.
"The third part for us," he continued, "is it's [got] to be a good product show. What providers and managers look at in terms of this show … is the amount and quality of conversations they had." From a manufacturer's standpoint, he said, that can be "a very rich discussion because people can give you direct feedback on your product. And you can reach out to the community."
The fourth piece of the puzzle, he said, is training and education. "Times are tough, money is tight, but people will travel [for that]," he said.
If Medtrade delivers those four things, Will said, "the show should do well … [we want to] see a professional organization, run professionally, that delivers a valuable service. That's what we are going for."
For its part, Pride is pleased show organizers are moving Medtrade away from principally being a selling show to one that not only showcases new products and technology but also tackles the industry's big challenges.
"We are extremely pleased with the direction Medtrade has taken," said Kirsten DeLay, Pride's senior vice president, sales management and operational planning. "In the last year-and-a-half, we feel that Nielsen has been extremely open to all of the exhibitor input."
DeLay said the show has been refocused and strengthened "for these times." Medtrade faltered, she said, when massive changes struck the HME sector over the last two years and stakeholders "were not really convinced that Medtrade understood our industry."
But the changes Medtrade has undertaken should dispel those concerns. The beefed-up educational courses should draw more therapists, DeLay said, and Pride is fully supporting the complex rehab pavilion. In addition to its regular exhibit space, Pride will have three booths in the pavilion showcasing its TRU-Balance, Q-Logic Drive Control Systems and Synergy cushions and back lines.
"And, for the first time, we are going to have the Quantum Seminar Tour [at the show]," DeLay said. "Our vehicle and all the presenters will be there."
Pride will offer three CEU courses from the seminar tour, she said. "We're not the only ones doing that, so hopefully, that will help change the focus of the education piece," she noted.
DeLay said what ties everything together now is the renewal of the AAHomecare contract. "We really needed Nielsen to make a strong commitment to our industry and help fund AAHomecare," she said.
"All of these positive changes make it better for all of us," she continued, noting that this year's show has the potential to offer superior education, to discuss the industry's most pressing issues and to support AAHomecare.
It could also bolster unity among the industry, and that's already begun with the companies that have returned to the show, she said.
"Unity is what's most important with the challenges we face," DeLay said. "Those exhibitors who choose to come back have helped to show the industry is united and Medtrade has helped to make it a more comprehensive show."
