Medtrade Spring 2014

A Wellspring of Business Enhancement

• By Joseph Duffy
• Mar 01, 2014

Offering four workshops and 36 educational sessions covering many aspects of the HME and DME industry, Medtrade Spring is at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, March 10 to 12, 2014. Approximately 2,000 attendees are expected at this year’s show, which has been called one of the largest forums for HME products and services, educational sessions and peer-to-peer networking. This year, there are no dedicated respiratory and sleep educational tracks, but we have highlighted educational topics that will help respiratory and sleep providers guide their businesses. Following that list are product demos to put on your roster of must-see offerings at the show.

A Supplier’s Biggest Burdens: Audits and Clinical Documentation

Monday, March 10, 2014 - 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Obtaining sufficient clinical documentation is one of the biggest challenges facing suppliers today. However, whether we like it or not, the reality is that this current environment of strict regulatory oversight requires that suppliers are more proactive in obtaining documentation up front. In some instances, it requires you have documentation in your files. Having an understanding of the Medicare documentation requirements is a must to avoid additional scrutiny and potential penalties. This presentation will provide specific details of what is expected of suppliers regarding clinical documentation. In addition, the presentation will share best practices and tips in obtaining sufficient documentation from your referral sources and provide some insight on what the future audit environment looks like for the DMEPOS industry.

Kelly Grahovac, Sr. Consultant, The van Halem Group, LLC
Wayne van Halem, President, The van Halem Group, LLC

Sales and Operations: Developing a Business Collaboration for Increasing Revenues

Monday, March 10, 2014 - 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Two high-energy, respected nationally recognized presenters walk you through the initial sales presentation to the eventual growth of revenue collections. There can be no effective and productive revenue growth or a productive collaboration between sales and operation until a new business model is in place. Learn about what must be a part of each sales presentation, how to become a partner with your referral sources and the paperwork that must be everyone’s responsibility. All attendees will receive important educational information for quick implementation at their homecare company. Regardless of the quality of the sales presentation you cannot merge sales and operations unless you have educated and trained everyone in the company, including the sales people. The key is what to teach and this program will guide you through that process. With all staff being sales, this program is important for everyone in your company. Get educated and motivated to do more and collect more in one dynamic session.

Louis Feuer, President, Dynamic Seminars/Medcomment Center
Sarah Hanna, President, ECS Billing & Consulting North

The Industry in Review: Where We Are and Where We’re Headed in the Federal Policy Arena

Monday, March 10, 2014 - 2:45 PM to 4:15 PM

In this session, you’ll get the latest update from Washington, D.C., on the federal legislative and regulatory issues impacting your business and the consumers you serve. Our industry is faced with a slew of issues, from the new “ObamaCare” health care insurance program to Medicare and state Medicaid issues. We’ll discuss the perennial federal budget issues and what this means for our industry today and tomorrow. We’ll cover our legislative issues in Congress and our regulatory issues with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). You’ll learn the latest details on the Medicare DME competitive bidding program, Medicare policies for oxygen, power mobility, and other HME items.

Cara Bachenheimer, Sr. Vice President, Government Relations, Invacare

Leadership in HME — A Best Practice Approach

Tuesday, March 11, 2014 - 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM

The combination of accountability measures and people skills are foundations for success in today’s HME business. Running a company without goals and expectations is no longer acceptable. To ensure viability and prosperity, standard levels of performance and coaching from the leaders is imperative. A candid discussion of best practices from HME companies nationwide will be the backdrop for this reality-based session on developing leaders and directing the company for today and the future.

Miriam Lieber, President, Lieber Consulting LLC

Face to Face (F2F): Medicare’s Most Difficult Regulation to Date

Wed, Mar 12, 2014 - 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM

The Affordable Care Act gave us many new programs and ONE BIG challenge: the Face-to-Face requirements. This requirement was started for home health in 2011 but has been delayed for DME several times. Why? What does this regulation require and why is it going to radically change the way we provide products to patients? What is the implementation date versus the effective date? What challenges do we face and what are the major concerns of other healthcare constituents? Come discuss these serious concerns and understand why you must have a process in place NOW.

Mary Ellen Conway, President, Capital Healthcare Group

Making Sense of Medicare’s Modifier Madness in 2014

Wednesday, March 12, 2014 - 9:45 AM to 10:45 AM

When it comes to DME, your billers are surrounded by a hodgepodge of alphabet soup each and every day. It’s no wonder that missing and inappropriately used modifiers are one of the number one reasons for claim rejections and denials. In the Competitive Bidding environment we have a whole host of program specific modifiers to keep things interesting. In this session Andrea Stark will break down the appropriate use of more than 30 of Medicare’s most commonly used and misused modifier scenarios to include: upgrades, competitive bidding, capped rental items, oxygen, prosthetics and orthotics, surgical dressings, nebulizer medications, and maintenance and repairs.

Andrea Stark, Consultant, MiraVista LLC

Lessons Learned in Home Care Invasive Ventilation Practices

Wednesday, March 12, 2014 - 9:45 AM to 10:45 AM

To date there has been a limited amount of networking and collaboration among those HMEs that offer invasive ventilation in the home setting. The session will share some of the findings from multiple two-day networking sessions attended by highly experienced ventilation providers. This session will share patient outcomes data that has been collected, as well as operational metrics reviewed for best practices.

Kelly Riley, Director of Natl. Respiratory Network, MED Group

Diversifying Your Revenue Sources: Looking Beyond Medicare for Additional Sales

Wednesday, March 12, 2014 - 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

The HME industry continues to evolve with providers looking to diversify their business and revenue sources. The traditional revenue streams from governmental sources are becoming less attractive. Providers need to look at all areas of healthcare to identify new revenue sources while continuing to maximize their opportunities with their existing customers. Sales revenue opportunities exist but in areas our industry has either overlooked or have not identified. This program will discuss those opportunities and how the HME provider can develop programs to access these new and stronger revenue streams.

Jim Howle, Director of the National Rehab and Orthotics Networks, MED Group
Wayne Grau, Vice President of Sales, The MED Group

This article originally appeared in the March 2014 Respiratory & Sleep Management issue of HME Business.