So, what's on my desk, anyway?

The title of my blog is “On the editor's desk” and, this time of year, what's on the editor's desk is…a lot.

Sure, there's the usual detritus of coffee cups, water bottles, hand lotion, gum, desk planner, ear buds and post-it notes.

But there's also more specific detritus related to a number of big projects, specifically the HME News Business Summit, the 2019 HME Financial Benchmarking Survey and the HME Excellence Awards.

Let's start with the Summit. I'm in the throes of putting together the educational program for this year's Summit, Sept. 22-24 in Cleveland (there are no hurricanes in Cleveland, right?), and it's coming together nicely, but it's far from complete. I've signed up a doc from the Cleveland Clinic (on how it's prioritizing care in the home) and I'm hoping to sign up a healthcare economist from Case Western Reserve University (on anything from the larger paradigm shifts in health care to the role of post-acute care in the value chain). I'm also chasing sessions on managed care organizations (trends in contracting and payment models); large, new entrants in health care (hello Amazon, CVS and others); and M&A and investment opportunities (with valuations up and with uncertainties in 2020, this is the year to give it your full consideration). My goal is to have the educational program complete by June 1—keep an eye out for it at www.hmesummit.com.

For the Benchmarking Survey, we're pleased to be partnering with the VGM Group again this year. The link to the survey is now live, and you'll be seeing us and VGM promoting the survey and asking you to complete it for the next few months. In fact, we're going to nag and bug, because it's that important. We got a nice bump in the number of providers who completed the survey last year, but the more providers who complete the survey, the more robust and valuable the data is. This survey is the only thing like it for the HME industry, so help us help you and complete the survey. Mark Higley at VGM says he's going to tell providers he won't answer any questions from providers about Round 2021 until they've completed the survey. He's joking, of course, but you get the idea. The survey is open until July 17, but don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Did I mention that we'll be doing two raffles for providers who complete the survey: a free registration to the Summit in September, and a free registration to the VGM Heartland Conference in June?

For the HME Excellence Awards, we've made a change this year: We'll be picking one “Provider of the Year” instead of first, second and third place winners. I can say, on behalf of myself, Publisher Rick Rector and judges Jonathan Sadock, Miriam Leiber and Lisa Wells, that this is one of our more fun projects. We're always floored by the quality of the providers who submit applications for this award—we just wish there were more of you. We're providing incentives for you for this, too: We'll be doing a raffle for a free registration to the HME Databank, and we'll be giving the “Provider of the Year” two free registrations to the Summit. The deadline to submit an application is June 4.

Hop on it y'all!