Awards & Data

Publisher, HME News Although it's only September, preparations are well under way for this year's Medtrade in Orlando. One of the mainstay events is the Kickoff Celebration/HME Excellence Awards Ceremony, and the HME Excellence Awards judging panel is hard at work selecting the winners. For 2005, the judges are Steve Burman, a former owner of a full-line HME supply company and a two-time HME Excellence Awards finalist; Rick Glass, a mergers and acquisition specialist with Steven Richards & Associates, who specializes in HME suppliers; and Tim Pontius, chairman of AAHomecare and president of Young Medical Equipment, also a past finalist. The Weeks Group is conducting confidential analysis of each finalist to rate both performance and confirm the integrity of financial success. The awards in the categories of Best Home Respiratory Provider, Best Home Medical Equipment Provider and Best Rehab Technology Supplier are the most significant recognition of achievement in the industry. Sponsored by Medtrade and HME News, in cooperation with AAHomecare, the awards ceremony singles out the best providers in the country, judged by a number of rigorous criteria. Even selection as a finalist is a major accomplishment. I also want to call your attention to the special supplement bound into this month's print issue of HME News. Our first annual State of the Industry White Paper presents a snapshot of the HME business like no other. Using data from a wide variety of sources, we start with the big picture, providing a breakdown of the Medicare market by state and DMERC region. We then identify the number of HME suppliers, again by state and region so you can get a sense of what sort of competition your business faces. We also provide a forecast of the growth in the elderly population in the United States, through 2050 so you can see the potential. With this context established, things get really interesting. We've identified and quantified the top 10 reimbursable product codes from CMS, in dollars, from 2001 through 2003. Then, to really examine the marketplace, the editors have analyzed the data further to report on the average number of Medicare beneficiaries served in a number of HCPC codes for four major product categories. It makes for very interesting reading.