LAS VEGAS – Just shy of 2,000 providers showed up for Medtrade Spring, the Las Vegas version of the nation’s premiere HME trade show.
Exhibitors reported steady traffic on the Mandalay Bay Convention Center floor, and educational sessions yielded solid attendance.
“I thought the traffic at our booth was very good,” said Ron Bendell,
president, VGM & Associates. “The attendees were engaged about
finding ways to improve their businesses.”
“Medtrade Spring has been productive,” added Michael Schumacher (left), territory sales manager, Graham-Field Health Products Inc, Atlanta. “It was constant traffic on Tuesday, and I’ve had a chance to connect with my customers and see a lot of folks all in one place.”
Much like last year, attendees who made the trip were looking to buy, and serious about surviving in the coming years. “Attendees weren’t just kicking tires,” said David Phillips, chief marketing officer, Goodmark Medical. “We were busy, and we got some good leads. We will definitely be in Atlanta this year for Medtrade [Oct 20-23], and that will be our third consecutive year.”
“I spoke with a number of providers at Medtrade Spring, and they expressed optimism about the future of the industry,” said Jeffrey S. Baird, JD, chairman of the Health Care Group at Brown & Fortunato, Amarillo, Tex. “They are definitely concerned about audits and competitive bidding, but they also understand that with 78 million Baby Boomers, the demand for DME will increase exponentially.
“The providers I talked to are pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and thinking outside the box regarding how to build a business model that is not dependent on Medicare fee-for-service,” continued Baird. “Their goal in attending Medtrade Spring was to receive the tools to succeed by attending the education programs and receiving cutting edge information by talking face-to-face with manufacturers.”
“The show has been fantastic,” enthused Wendy Miller, BOCO, CDME, director of Facility Accreditation, BOC USA. “Attendees have been very positive about the CDME Certification and its ability to show competency and professionalism [by passing the exam] to third party payors and referral sources.”
“Medtrade Spring has been very good, and we’ve had an excellent show,” added Claudia Zacharias (pictured to the right of Wendy Miller), MBA, CAE, president and CEO, BOC USA. It’s not so much the number of attendees, but the quality has been high. This is definitely a bump up from last year’s Medtrade Spring.”
Aaron Goldsmith, president of Supernal Recliner Beds, a Transfer Master Product line, Postville, Iowa, commented: “Medtrade Spring has been very good for us. We had excellent engagement from booth visitors. They asked a lot of questions and agreed that our product was the right elixir for the ills of ObamaCare. We will definitely be in Atlanta for Medtrade [Oct 20-23, 2014].”
Ritesh D. Patel, PharmD, of Assistive Design Concepts, makers of the DONN-IT-ON, Raleigh, NC, also expressed enthusiasm, while also making plans for Medtrade in seven months. “Medtrade Spring has been impressive. We had non-stop traffic on Tuesday. We just booked a bigger booth for Medtrade in Atlanta [Oct 20-23, 2014] and we are considering exhibiting again at Medtrade Spring in 2015.”
Steve Moore, senior vice president, Sales & Marketing, Human Design Medical LLC, described the overall mood as “very upbeat” with most of that good cheer stemming from heavy foot traffic. “Our booth was busy all day long,” said Moore. “The reaction we’ve received has been extremely positive. We wrote leads for purchase from open to close, and even stayed 30 minutes after the show was over talking with potential customers.”
This year, Medtrade takes place in its familiar digs at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, from Oct 20-23, 2014.