FutureShow '99

• By Jim Brennan, Jim Papac
• Apr 01, 1999

The bright neon lights of Las Vegas again provide the backdrop for the 11th Annual FutureShow May 10-12 at Bally's Hotel and Resort. FutureShow '99 provides a mid-year opportunity for home health care professionals to develop and keep business relationships, to learn about the newest regulations and trends affecting the industry, and to purchase the latest innovations available to the health care community.

Attendees at this year's show will see some changes from the past as FutureShow '99 will be the first trade show run by the Medtrade Management Group since it was bought by Bill Communications Inc., a VNU-USA company. BillCom Exposition and Conference Group will oversee both the FutureShow and the Medtrade exposition and conference, which will be in November at New Orleans.

"We're hoping for a seamless transition," said Joe Randall, general manager, home health care group, Bill Communications. "We're recognizing we've got a lot more resources now than we had as a privately owned, small company as Semco. The real excitement from our standpoint is transitioning this show into bigger and better because we have the resources to do so."

More resources for FutureShow means more marketing personnel and more marketing money to get the word out about the benefits of the May show.

"We're really focusing on transitioning it in the coming years to really become the mid-year buying event," Randall said.

On Tuesday, May 11, and Wednesday, May 12, the exhibit floor will be open to display products and services available to the home medical equipment (HME) industry. Randall said one of the main reasons trade show attendees come is to keep abreast of new products and applications. FutureShow answers that call for new products with the New Product Showcase. The showcase will display the newest products available from ambulatory aids to wheelchairs. BillCom expects the showcase to be sold out with more than 50 new products.

According to Randall, BillCom is committed to increasing exhibitor and attendee participation.

"It has primarily been in the past a small, West Coast version of Medtrade," he said. "We have high hopes for this show."

One way BillCom is trying to incorporate new companies is by pushing for the attendance of computer and software companies. HME providers are increasingly using computers to organize daily tasks and Medicare-related paper work.

"I think the number two request for information from our attendees relates to computers and software and billing questions, and we've made that an emphasis in trying to attract more companies like that," Randall said.

Approximately 20 percent more companies are expected to exhibit this year than previous years. Of those additional companies, 25 percent are new to FutureShow. Attendance is expected to rise to almost 4,000 industry professionals, which will be up from the approximate 2,500 attendees in 1998. He attributed the increase to BillCom's added resources, which allow for more solicitation of companies and more emphasis on the show.

Promotion of new products is not the only goal of the FutureShow. Educating the industry on new legislation and trends is another. Before the trade show floor opens, the National Association of Medical Equipment Services (NAMES) begins its annual conference with the theme "A Smart Step Toward the New Millennium." The conference will feature more than 85 concurrent educational sessions taught by industry leaders.

The conference begins Monday morning, May 10, when the NAMES 1999-2000 officers and board of directors are elected. The NAMES 1999 achievement awards will be presented to recognize the 1998 efforts of NAMES companies and HME associations that have greatly affected the industry. Dr. Dennis S. O'Leary, president of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, will follow with a keynote address to the general assembly.

NAMES' annual "Washington Update" will be Tuesday, May 11, during which the NAMES government relations staff will update attendees on the latest legislative and regulatory issues affecting the industry.

Other FutureShow '99 activities include the NAMES/CAMPS annual golf tournament on Monday, May 10, which is sponsored by Salter Labs, and the NAMES rehab section's business meeting and reception from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 11.

Conferences begin on Monday, May 10, and last the entirety of the show. FutureShow '99 trade show hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 11, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 12. Registration information for FutureShow '99 can be obtained at www.futureshow.com or by contacting the Medtrade Management Group at (800) 241-9034 or by fax at (404) 531-8734.

This article originally appeared in the April 1999 issue of HME Business.