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.