Medtrade Fall Preview

A Hearty Helping of Industry Knowledge?

This fall’s show serves up a feast of more than 120 conference sessions, plus a healthy pre-show.

• By Cindy Horbrook
• Sep 01, 2012

In just a few weeks, HME professionals from across the country will once again descend upon Atlanta, Ga. hungry for news, knowledge and opportunities to expand their expertise at Medtrade Fall 2012.

Slated for Oct. 15 through Oct. 18 at the Georgia World Congress Center, Medtrade Fall is expected to attract more than 12,000 HME industry professionals and more than 600 manufacturers showcasing their latest and greatest products.

For HME professionals thinking about adding a new product line or getting into retail, Medtrade provides the opportunity to discover new suppliers, meet current vendors and find new products.

But, Medtrade is about much more than just the products. For providers starved for the sorts of insights that can help them survive and thrive in these uncertain times, the more than 120 conference sessions at Medtrade are some of the biggest draws for attendees. The one-hour educational sessions are lead by top industry speakers and provide in-depth training on various subjects. Advocacy and Messaging to the Consumer: the Provider’s Role is a new conference topic this year. Returning topics include:

• Audits: Pre & Post-Payment
• Business Operations
• Competitive Bidding
• Human Resources, Leadership & Staff Development
• Industry Updates
• Information Technology
• Legislative & Regulatory Issues
• Non-Medicare/Medicaid Markets
• Rehabilitation & Assistive Technology
• Reimbursement
• Retail
• Sales & Marketing
• Sleep/Oxygen & Respiratory Issues

Moreover, it’s worth mentioning that Medtrade has started offering post-show access to its educational conference sessions via its Conference Digital Library. The library allows anyone to “attend” a missed session or repeat one. The Conference Digital Library provides access to notes and audio from sessions for one year. Currently, Medtrade Spring 2012, Medtrade 2011, Medtrade Spring 2011, Medtrade 2010, Medtrade Spring 2010 and Medtrade 2009 are available for purchase.

Pre-show Workshops and Seminars

But before the conference starts in earnest, providers have deep dished-sized services of education to tuck into in the form of the Medtrade pre-show. Monday will be an action-packed day with plenty of options to learn successful strategies for sales, business growth, billing, and handling Medicare and competitive bidding in a more in-depth manner than the one-hour conference sessions.

Four different full-day, eight-hour workshops will take place on Monday. Ty Bello, president of Team@Work will lead the Championship HME Sales Academy workshop. This workshop is designed to help attendees learn how to meet business objectives while accelerating sales, and features one-on-one coaching, role playing, and various takehome materials.

In addition to the sales workshop, Brightree will hold a workshop about billing, Philips Respironics will cover how to grow a business and increase revenue, and Pride Mobility will review the latest advancements in Group 3 power bases, power positioning, seating and positioning as well as advancements to expandable drive controls.

The pre-show seminars are four hours as opposed to the eight-hour workshops. Four pre-show education seminars are slated to take place, sponsored by Capital Healthcare Group, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and The VGM Group.

Home Access and Retail Exhibit

Two popular special exhibits, now combined into one, will return to the expo portion of the show this year. Nielsen Expositions has allotted 4,500 square feet for a Home and Retail Design Center on the expo floor.

Providers looking to diversify their business and find other revenue sources in the face of continued Medicare funding cuts will find plenty of inspiration in the Home and Retail Design Center.

The exhibit follows Medtrade 2011’s accessible home display and will aim to replicate the ideal showroom floor for providers interested in expanding their cash sales business. It will offer displays with different product categories and special “vignette” displays to showcase products in their environment, such as a bedroom or a bathroom.

Complex Rehab Pavilion

Medtrade will feature the NRRTS Complex Rehab Pavilion, which is a group of booths that all share the common theme of offering equipment and services to meet the complex needs of people with disabilities who have significant mobility and postural deficits.

Some of the pavilion participants will include Active Controls, Frank Mobility Systems, Innovative Concepts, Star Cushion and Triumph Mobility.

Consumer Advocacy Pavilion

As part of its Power for Funding campaign, MK Battery, in cooperation with Medtrade, will sponsor a consumer advocacy pavilion as well as promotion and programs that are designed to bring HME industry and consumer stakeholders together to foster strategic legislative, fundraising and other initiatives.

Numerous advocacy organizations and some of the most prominent HME relevant consumer non-profits will share ideas while networking with industry providers and manufacturers at the pavilion exhibit area.

Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC) is one the advocacy groups participating in the pavilion and collects donated HME products at the show. The organization is also hosting a charity golf tournament and awards presentation from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Monday at the Lakemont Course at Stone Mountain Golf Club. Money raised from the golf tournament will help FODAC provide HME products, such as wheelchairs, walkers, and hoyer lifts, to the disabled community at little or no cost to recipients who are indigent or experiencing long delays in getting benefits. FODAC also helps clients with support services, such as home and vehicle modifications.

Networking Events

Medtrade is considered one of the top venues for networking among HME professionals First off, the popular Lunch and Learn returns to kick things off on Monday from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Registration is required for this limited-space event, which has sold out at the last three Medtrade conferences. At the event, attendees grab a provided box lunch and head to a table for topic discussion. There are eight topics to select from and an expert moderator leads each discussion. Attendees are given an opportunity to share successes, voice concerns, ask questions and learn best practices from peers.

Over the past two years, MK Battery’s Power for Funding initiatives have raised nearly $150,000 for industry and trade organizations, such as The National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology (NCART), The National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers (NRRTS) and The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) to help advance their advocacy and lobbying efforts in support of the HME community. That event will appear at this year’s show in the form of a Power for Funding Coffee Reception & Donation Presentation that will run Wed., Oct. 17 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Other networking events include AAHomecare’s Washington Update from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday and its Stand Up for Homecare Fundraiser Reception from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. At the Washington Update, AAHomecare President Tyler Wilson and Government Affairs Vice President Walt Gorski, along with the association’s lobbyists, will discuss the current status of legislation and regulations affecting the HME community. Topics will include Round Two of competitive bidding, audits, and issues related to mobility. The fundraising reception is designed to help expand awareness and appreciation of homecare and is considered a major networking event that is typically attended by key leaders in the HME community.

This article originally appeared in the September 2012 issue of HME Business.