Page 6 - HME Business, January 2018

Editor’s Note
Silver and Tin
This edition of HME Business celebrates two important anniversaries.
Volume 25 Number 1 January 2018
Editor Products Editor
Art Director Production Coordinator
Director of Online Product Development
Group Publisher
Integrated Media Consultant
David Kopf
(949) 265-1561
Sydny Shepard
Laurie Layman Charles Johnson
Marlin Mowatt Karen Cavallo
(760) 610-0800 Caroline Stover (323) 605-4398
This issue marks important milestones for me and the magazine: 10 years ago, I became the editor of the newly re-launched HME Business, which was born out of Home Health Products News, and 25 years ago, then-HHP now-HMEB started serving readers. So we have a silver anniversary for the magazine and a tin anniversary for me. (Hey, tin’s not so bad — I’ll take it!)
As most readers know, I’m not an HME profes- sional; I’m an editorial professional. Prior to editing HME Business, I had edited magazines mainly
for the telecommunications and data networking industries, and had written for the powersports, nursing and nancing industries. So, home medical equipment represented a bit of a learning curve.
That’s okay. We business editors are trained
to learn new markets, and frankly I was jumping at the chance to edit this magazine. I had been involved in some magazine re-launches, and thought HME Business was one of the smartest, timeliest that I’d seen. While Home Health Products News had served regular issues of solid HME product coverage for 15 years, it was clear that the magazine needed to change with the industry.
Why? For starters, competitive bidding, the 36-month rental cap on oxygen products, and Medicare accreditation for DMEPOS were all coming around the corner. Also, the demographics of the industry were changing with a massive in ux of baby boomers that would help rede ne the the industry. Moreover, new business models such as retail sales were starting to attract serious interest and discussion. Clearly, HHP needed to evolve into something that could offer deeper insights into signi cant issues.
Hence HME Business was born. My mission was to transform the publication into a forum that readers could depend on to get useful information on new trends and challenges. As we launched the print magazine, we also unveiled a newly revamped website at hme-business.com, and increased the frequency and depth of our news coverage and e-Source e-newsletter. We also added social media and an extremely successful webinar program to further the education HMEB could offer.
Best of all, it worked! Like I said, I’ve been involved with magazine relaunches, and even with the best market insights, readership studies, expert advice, and focus groups, they don’t always work out. Re-launches are tricky projects that can be white knuckle affairs, but HMEB came out on top.
I credit that success to one thing: people. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and as a
25-year editorial veteran, I can say with con dence that it takes an industry for a trade magazine to succeed. Bearing that in mind, some thanks are due to some key groups of people.
First off, I want to thank you, the readers of HME Business. I can honestly say that of all the magazines I’ve been involved with, you have easily been the most involved and engaged readership of all. Whether it’s in emails to me, story comments on our web site, or replies on social media, you are not afraid to share your opinions and ideas. Best
of all, I regularly get a chance to talk to readers at tradeshows, which rarely happened when I was writing for other industries. Suf ce it to say, your regular involvement helps make this magazine a fresh, lively and useful publication for the industry.
Second, I want to thank the industry experts who contribute HMEB. From interviews, to stories, to columns, to webinars, there are many of knowl- edgeable, informative people out there who are willing to share what they know. This includes our editorial advisory board, the members of which are listed to the right of this column. Over the years, some board members have left, some have come back, and some have remained on the board since day one, and all have made major contributions to the editorial mission of this publication.
Third, I want to thank our advertisers. The vendors that support this magazine, our site, e-Source, webinars and social media help keep the of ce lights on, and ensure that we keep providing useful news, insights and information on daily basis to the industry. Moreover, their support is an af rmation that 10 years later, we are still creating a meaningful forum for HME providers.
Lastly, I want to thank my co-workers: Karen Cavallo, our publisher; Laurie Layman, our art director; Sydny Shepard, who covers products; Caroline Stover, who manages ad sales; Marlin Mowatt, who directs our site; Charles Johnson, our production coordinator; Susan May, our marketing director; and Lynda Brown, who assists on ad sales. They’re the hardest working team in the trade magazine business.
All of you have played a very important role in my life over the past 10 years. Know that you have my deepest thanks.
David Kopf Editor
HME Business
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Steve Ackerman
President Spectrum Medical
Jeffrey S. Baird, Esq.
Chairman of the Health Care Group of Brown & Fortunato, P.C.
Rob Baumhover
Director of Retail Services for VGM Retail Services
Ty Bello, RCC
President and Founder Team@Work
Georgie Blackburn
Vice President, Government Relations and Legislative Affairs BLACKBURN’S
Todd Blockinger
Senior Director of Sales The MED Group
Rob Boyeye
Executive Vice President of HME Brightree LLC
Sandra Canally
President
The Compliance Team Inc.
George Coppola
Director of Marketing CAIRE Medical
John C Eberhart
President Eberhart Home Health Inc.
John Letizia
President of Laurel Medical Supplies Inc.
Joe Lewarski
Vice President of Global Respiratory and Sleep Drive Devilbiss
Ron Resnick
President Blue Chip Medical Products Inc.
Tom Ryan
President and CEO AAHomecare
Wayne Slavitt
Founder and CEO Mobül: The Mobility Store
Wayne van Halem
President and Founder The van Halem Group LLC
INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS GROUP
President & Group Publisher Group Publisher Group Circulation Director Group Marketing Director Group Social Media Editor
Chief Executive Of cer Chief Operating Of cer Chief Technology Of cer
Executive Vice President Executive Chairman
REACHING THE STAFF
Kevin O’Grady Karen Cavallo Irene Fincher Susan May Sydny Shephard
Rajeev Kapur Henry Allain Erik A. Lindgren
Michael J. Valenti Jeffrey S. Klein
Editors can be reached via e-mail, fax, telephone, or mail. A list of editors and contact information is at www.hme-business.com.
Email: email is routed to individuals’ desktops. Please use the following form: rstnameinitial,lastname@1105media.com. Do not include a middle name or middle initials.
Telephone: The switchboard is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. After 5:30 p.m. you will be directed to individual extensions.
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Corporate Phone: (818) 814-5200; Fax: (818) 734-1522
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