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