For the second year in a row, the Medical Group Management Association will try to make its annual conference a more rewarding event for the 200 or so physicians among the expected 4,000 to 5,000 attendees when the Englewood, Colo.-based organization convenes the event Oct. 12-15 in Philadelphia.
"Physicians are always a minority at our show," says MGMA CEO William Jessee, M.D. "We thought it important that they not get lost."
The second annual educational track specifically for physicians will include sessions on physician entrepreneurship and leadership.
On Oct. 14, Jessee and academic care management guru David Nash, M.D., will co-present a workshop on disease management for group practices as part of the MGMA's advanced-level Master's Series.
Additionally, CMS has scheduled its weekly national physician conference call live from the Pennsylvania Convention Center on the last day of the MGMA show.
U.S. News & World Report columnist Bernadine Healy, M.D., will deliver a keynote address on leadership during turbulent times. Healy was the first woman to head the National Institutes of Health and also held the top spots at the American Red Cross and the Research Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. She also served on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and was dean of the Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health.
After the keynote, Healy will lead a 90-minute breakout session on organizational governance and leadership.
"Members really love that," says Jessee. "It will be a fairly informal session."
New this year at the annual MGMA conference is an afternoon technology showcase on Oct. 12 where six vendors will have 20 minutes each to present their products to a live audience.
"It's to give people a more in-depth opportunity to learn more about new tools in a format that you can't get in five minutes at a booth," says Jessee.
Also on the technology front, the typical long lines to check e-mail or surf the Web can be avoided this year, as the convention area will have wireless Internet service for anyone with a portable computer and a Wi-Fi card.
