WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?

If you do, you're probably in the wrong business. Long-term care providers these days feel happy if they can just stay out of the red. But still, there are some similarities between the situation many of our Buyers Guide readers face and that of the contestants on the popular TV game show.

For one thing, the editor of the Buyers Guide (and of Nursing Homes/Long Term Care Management) has been known at times to wear a deep blue shirt with a navy blue suit (and a spiffy tie, if you ask him). He also asks a lot of questions.

Probably more important, though, is that the Buyers Guide offers help with the answers. It's unlikely that you'll be betting your purchasing dollars in quite the increments that Who Wants To...? contestants do. But say, for example, that you do commit $8,000 or $16,000 to a product purchase; you'll want to make sure that you've done the right thing. The Buyers Guide is here to provide you with some important information toward that end.

There are the new, easier-to-read company listings; the illustrated product sections; the ads (of course); and the articles providing you with coaching from the sidelines. There is vendor contact information galore-- "lifelines," you might say. You will find that in almost every product/service category, you have multiple choices.

You will most definitely want to think carefully about your answers. In fact, one of the distressing similarities that has grown between the game show and long-term care since the fiscal fiasco of 1999, is the significance of a wrong answer. On the game show, Regis Philbin says goodbye if you get just one wrong. One wrong answer in today's economic climate for long-term care might be just as costly.

We don't want any wrong answers around here. Maybe Philbin doesn't care, but we want you to look good. Therefore, may your "final answers" lead only to bigger and better things, so at least you'll feel like $1,000,000.