Previewing Fall HIT conferences

Thinking about attending a conference before the end of the year? Here is a look at a few fall conferences where you will find some of the leading authorities on HITECH and EHR adoption. You can even see and hear some of our contributing experts. And who knows, one might even be in your backyard.

Starting in early September you will find The Inaugural Digital Medical Office of the Future: Driving Toward Meaningful Use Conference on September 9 and 10, in Las Vegas NV. The Chairperson for this event is Mark R. Anderson, FHIMSS, CPHIMS, CEO & Healthcare IT Futurist, AC Group, Inc. You can hear his keynote address on the National Update on the EHR & HIE marketplace, HITECH, meaningful use, and collaborative care Thursday morning. This educational conference will feature a three track format highlighting EHRs, HIEs, and Clinical Platforms and Applications.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) touts 59,000 members and traces its roots back 82 years. Their 82nd Convention & Exhibit will be September 25-30 in Orlando FL. This years theme is Prosper Through Change – Global Transformation. Historic Opportunities. Addressing critical issues and topics in HIM today. Don’t miss Paul Tang, MD, MS, Internist and Vice President, Chief Medical Information Officer at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), Consulting Associate Professor of Medicine (Biomedical Informatics) at Stanford University when you are there. His keynote speech will address the implications of the federal health information initiatives for HIM professionals, the organizations for whom they work, and the patients they serve. He is uniquely qualified to do so because he serves on HHS’s National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics and the Health Information Technology Policy Committee, where he has chaired the Meaningful Use and Strategic Plan Workgroups and drafted the Health IT Strategic Framework.

Moving into October, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) presents The CIO’s HITECH Information Source at their CHIME10 Fall CIO Forum on October 5-8 in Phoenix AZ. And what would the “Premier Event for Healthcare CIOs” be without bringing in the top guns? Wednesday’s Welcome and keynote will be the top gun, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Blumenthal, MD. Does he even need an introduction?

If you can’t make CHIME10 the 2010 National Physician Practice EMR Workshop & Expo will take place in Baltimore the next week on October 11-13. The Workshop & Expo will take you step-by-step through the incentive rules while bringing together EMR vendors and meaningful examples of EMR success for a unique event focused for the physician office provider. The workshop also will feature two of our own experts. Jim Tatewill be speaking on “How to prove meaningful use of EMR to qualify for incentives” and “What your vendor does or doesn’t do could cost you your incentive”. Mark Anderson will be speaking on “How to prove meaningful use of EMR to qualify for incentives” and “What your vendor does or doesn’t do could cost you your incentive”

Have you been to the Big Easy lately? On the fifth anniversary of Katrina, MGMA 2010 Annual Conference takes on New Orleans, October 24-27. The conference will feature over 100 educational sessions and the city will feature its famous night life and cajun cuisine. And if you can’t decide just what session to go to, try “Optimize to Meaningful Use Workshop” presented by Rosemarie Nelson.

The 2nd Annual Medicare Compliance Summit in Washington DC on November 8-10 says it will prepare your organization to meet new CMS compliance standards. If you are attending, check out Bill Oravecz at the pre-conference workshop on Leveraging the Top 5 Things Plans Need to Know About HITECH & HIPAA to Optimize Your Compliance Program.

And finally, don’t miss this star studded line up at the 2010 mHealth Summit on November 8-10 in Washington DC. This event will feature Bill Gates, the US CTO Aneesh Chopra, Harvard School of Public Health Dean of Faculty Dr. Julio Frenk, and Ted Turner. The summit is the key opportunity for leaders in government, private sector/industry, academia and not-for-profit organizations to share information and experiences related to the intersection of mobile technology, health research, and policy.

Have a good trip!