Three HMEs nab Excellence Awards

ATLANTA - Roberts Home Medical, Equipped For Life and Inland Medical & Rehab took top honors in the HME Excellence Awards last month at Medtrade. They were among nine home medical equipment companies to accept awards for displaying the best qualities of performance among their industry peers. Germantown, Md.-based Roberts won Best Respiratory Provider; Hagerstown, Md.-based Equipped For Life won Best HME Provider; and Spokane, Wash.-based Inland won Best Rehab Provider. The companies were judged on several factors, such as community involvement, quality control, staff development and financial performance, said HME News Editor Mike Moran. "We designed the HME Excellence Awards with one goal in mind: to identify the HME industry's best providers," Moran said. "The winners can feel good that their companies are leaders in the HME industry. Past winners are good examples that doing it right, both operationally and clinically, is profitable and worth recognition." The top finishers all showed impressive financials, such as growth rates of 10% to 20% and profit margins of 10% to 15%. Even Inland managed a double-digit margin in rehab. Operations manager Don Whitney credits an organization that is dedicated to one cause: serving the client as thoroughly as possible. "Coming to work each day is not just a job for us, but a vocation," he said. "We live out our jobs, and ultimately our lives, by treating others in the same way we would want to be treated if we were in their particular situation. In providing our clients with prompt, professional and compassionate service, we have learned that our customers become our friends, who come to put their trust and faith in us for the services we provide." Also appearing on the podium to receive awards were Charlotte, N.C.-based Med Emporium and Lebanon, N.H.-based Keene Medical Product, first and second runners-up, respectively, in the respiratory category; Memphis, Tenn.-based Affiliated Services-Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare and Southfield, Mich.-based Health Core, first and second runners-up, respectively, in the HME category; and Earth City, Mo.-based United Seating & Mobility and Cleveland-based Health Aid of Ohio, first and second runners-up, respectively, in the rehab category.