Medtrade brings the buzz - now the industry must bring the action
By Liz Beaulieu, Editor
Updated 4:19 PM CDT, Tue March 31, 2026
The heat outside Medtrade in Phoenix this year – intense, even by local standards – had a certain symmetry with what was happening inside the Convention Center. The industry’s challenges are very real, very present, and yes, very “hot,” but they seemed to thaw under a positive buzz on the show floor.
And let’s be clear: There’s plenty to worry about in DME right now.
• Benefits managers tightening their grip on DME.
• And, of course, yet another round of Medicare competitive bidding – a program that has providers of certain categories, like CGMs, “fighting for our lives,” as Gayle Devin, CEO of Home Care Delivered, said during the AAHomecare Update.
Yet, for three days in Phoenix, the prevailing sentiment wasn’t doom-and-gloom – it was we’re in this together and let’s roll up our sleeves. Honestly, I was pleasantly
surprised.
The show floor contributed to that energy. Medtrade featured 116 new exhibitors out of more than 360 total, Show Director Kayla McGarry told me – a remarkable influx that gave the floor a fresh, forward-looking feel.
Among those newcomers: UpRiser by Vital Fjord, based in The Netherlands. Best known for its standing desks, the company is stepping into the U.S. DME market with an electric toilet assist that fits over any standard porcelain bowl. It’s durable, slickly designed (as you’d expect from a Scandinavian manufacturer), and it walked away with a silver in the new product awards.
Then there were the two gentlemen who stopped by the HME News booth to pitch the need for colorful DME. Think canes and walkers with Paul Frank–style designs – no surprise, since one of them used to design T‑shirts for the brand. Their argument? Why does getting older have to mean giving up joy and personality?
A fair point – and apologies, gentlemen, for misplacing your cards.
Big booths helped drive buzz, too. Pride Mobility and Golden Technologies held down their usual impressive footprints, but others stepped up in noticeable ways. NikoHealth, for example, built out a full chateau-themed booth, complete with champagne and macarons. It didn’t stop there. The company also hosted one of the growing number of after-hours events, featuring — believe it — a woman in a hamster wheel floating in a pool. Tennr went even bigger with a full-blown circus.
Work hard, play hard, indeed.
But once the lights dimmed and the booths came down, the real work resumed. My hope is that the energy from Medtrade — the camaraderie, the renewed sense of purpose, the validation that comes from being surrounded by people who get it — travels home with every attendee. Because the industry can’t afford downtime. AAHomecare was on the Hill the very next Monday, warning about what’s at stake in this next round of bidding.
Medtrade showed us momentum. Now we have to turn it into movement.
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