physicians now that have led the negotiations have some leverage, but this will wane over time with the younger physicians. We are planning a deep dive into our annual meeting to understand how it must change in both content and format. We need to be more strategic about developing easily acces- sible and very relevant CME offerings that bring education to the point of service.” Likewise, AOA “understands that being out of the office for a stretch of several days can be dif- ficult,” Ross said. “DOs working in an independent practice may worry about who will cover their patients and that time out of the office is time that could be spent on new administrative duties like quality reporting. If a DO works for a hospital or a large medical center, they might have to convince their bosses to give them the time off.” One way that AOA is addressing that concern is


by starting OMED, its annual Osteopathic Medical Conference & Exhibition, on a Saturday instead of a Sunday, beginning next year — “thus requir- ing attendees to take one less weekday out of the office,” Ross said. AOA is also “trying to make it easier for DOs to earn CME credit, while being mindful of their time restrictions,” by offering additional regional conferences. “Two or three times a year, DOs are given the opportunity to earn up to 24 category 1-A CME credits at these smaller-scale conferences,” she said, which are held over weekends “to limit out-of-office time.”


The Exhibitor Piece While Eberly said the exhibit hall at AMGA’s 2013


Annual Conference “sold out early with a long wait list,” other medical associations — having already made significant changes to the way their meetings and education are funded — continue


to reassess their exhibitor component in light of the PPACA. Under the AOA’s Standards for Com- mercial Support, for example, the organization no longer offers CME credit to attendees who visit exhibitor booths during the meeting. “This could become more common after the recent implemen- tation of the ‘Sunshine Rule’ of the ACA,” Ross said, “which calls for transparency in the relationships between manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologi- cals, and medical supplies and physicians.” Scott thinks that the “consciousness” around transparency and conflict of interest is only going to keep “increasing, and so people are going to have to keep looking for different sources of revenue to support their CME activity,” he said.


“Some of the specialties are so tied with pharma, like psychiatry, and certainly orthopedics with the device manufacturers — it’s going to be an inter- esting transition.” At ASNC, Flood said, it’s time “to rethink how


to connect vendors and our members.” One “final piece” of the PPACA that will directly affect her members — and therefore exhibitor participation at her events — “is the continuous cuts to reimburse- ment,” she said. “This is making it more difficult for practices to reinvest in new technology that is often safer and more effective than older products.” Meanwhile, AOA has retooled OMED’s trade-show floor “to offer more product-theater programs,” Ross said, “which are organized pre- sentations from industry leaders on the latest news and research in topics like diabetes, pain, and sleep issues.”


While there is no CME credit granted for


attending product theaters, “attendees are able to enjoy an additional educational experience,” she said, that “enriches” their overall conference experience.


Kerry Crockett


‘We have a hybrid component now with our Annual Meeting where we record sessions and sync them to PowerPoint. But the goal is to really, truly do a hybrid event where folks can actually feel like they are part of that session.’


66 PCMA CONVENE APRIL 2013 PCMA.ORG


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164