CUMBERLAND, MD – Kathy Weber (shown here in the middle with staff members Erin on left and Christa on right) recently attended her 9th Medtrade in Orlando, Fla. The annual trek to the nation’s premiere HME trade show yielded new items to incorporate into the business and invaluable education.
“The seminars are wonderful,” says Weber, department supervisor for DME at Pharmacare, Cumberland, Md. “And with the new products out, Medtrade is the way to find out about them.”
Like so many independent pharmacies and DME providers, Pharmacare has endured the pain of reduced reimbursements and increased audits. “I was telling our owner that if we didn’t have these events such as Medtrade to attend,” says Weber, “I’m not sure if providers would have weathered all of the storms that have transpired within the last 7 years.”
When she is not serving customers at Pharmacare, Weber gets out to her horses—a quarter horse and a Tennessee Walker—every chance she gets. “The Tennessee Walker has an extra gait,” she enthuses. “It puts you into something like a rocking chair. I have been working with horses for about 18 years. It’s relaxing, and it’s a different atmosphere being outdoors. It’s a relief from medical billing.”
Weber is making plans to attend next year’s Medtrade, scheduled for Oct 20-23 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga. “Medtrade is so educational,” says the 22-year Pharmacare veteran, “and how else would you learn anything?”