ATLANTA – For those of you who opened Medtrade Monday on Labor Day, I hope you are enjoying your day off. Then again, if you own your own HME business, taking a real day off is incredibly difficult.

By the time Labor Day rolls around, it dawns on all of us that Summer is indeed almost over. Vacations are done, and in many ways it is time to get down to business. With that in mind, Medtrade comes at the ideal time (Oct 21-23, 2019) to go into the final quarter with renewed inspiration, while also discovering products and knowledge that bode well for the new year.

Whether we like it or not, acquiring new products, knowledge, and inspiration is helpful in an industry that used to be steady and predictable. For the last decade or so, that quiet stability has been radically transformed into unpredictability due to government policy.

Are we entering a new period of stability? Not quite. It’s a bit better than it used to be, but (unfortunately) plenty of uncertainty remains. You know the problems too well, but you may not know the solutions; Or you may know the solutions, but there may be crucial nuances that you have failed to explore.

Medtrade is a place to explore the big ideas, as well as the less visible nuance of running a successful business in an often complex industry. New products, new advice, and new friends await attendees who are willing to spend the time, money, and effort to get out of the office.

Advance Rates are now in effect, and a special code — EARLY — gives Medtrade Monday readers an even lower rate. The code runs though Sept 6. I look forward to seeing you at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

Mark Lind is associate show director, Medtrade.