by Carol Barnes, MS, RHIA
Last year I shared a blog post about annual meeting planning
being a piece of cake. If you read that article, you learned that annual
meeting planning is actually a never-ending task. OHIMA staff and volunteers
spend years (yes, YEARS) planning each annual meeting – an event that typically
only lasts 3 calendar days. My previous article focused on planning the dates,
selecting keynote speakers, and developing a theme. So, what other major tasks
are involved?
In a “typical” year, the board’s next major task is to
select the speakers for the break-out sessions or educational tracks. The Call
for Speakers and Presentations close in August so that the meeting committee
can review submissions and determine what topics would be most beneficial to
our audience – YOU! For a time now, the breakout sessions have been split into
tracks such as Privacy & Security, ROI, inpatient coding, CDI, ICD-10,
Management, etc. This can be helpful to attendees who want to focus on certain areas
of the profession, but we have heard feedback in recent years that it also
means attendees don’t always get a good variety of sessions in a single day.
It’s our hope that attendees could attend all 3 days and receive the 30+ CEUs
available but we understand that’s not always possible for financial or
planning reasons. Because of this, the committee is looking at a bit of
restructuring for the 2022 annual meeting. Instead of educational tracks for
the afternoon sessions, be on the lookout for a variety of topics each day that
hopefully will give you a well-rounded educational experience no matter which date(s)
you’re able to attend.
In a “non-typical” year, such as we’ve been in lately, the
board also must determine the format of the meeting and what type of
audio-visual equipment or software is required to make the conference a
successful event. When the board chose to go 100% virtual for 2021, we
investigated online platforms and ended up selecting Whova to support our
meeting. Nearly all the presentations were loaded into Whova prior to the
annual meeting so they were ready for attendees to watch on Monday, February 22nd.
Additionally, we utilized Zoom and Gatherly for online networking events. In
reviewing conference feedback, it seems Whova was a great choice and most
attendees found the platform easy to navigate and interact. As we look forward
to the upcoming 2022 conference, be on the lookout for information regarding
the format. Go ahead and mark your calendars for March 21, 22, and 23 because
you’re not going to want to miss another excellent educational and networking
opportunity!
Although my term as the Director of Professional HIM
Development has officially ended, I’m serving as a committee member for the
Annual Meeting and Trade Show. After serving 3 years as the director, my love
for the annual meeting (and its crazy planning process) has grown and I love
helping to create the amazing professional event we all look forward to each
spring.
Save
the Date for OHIMA 2022 Annual Meeting & Trade Show – with both in-person
and virtual options! – on March 21-23, 2022 at the Hilton Easton!
Carol Barnes, MS, RHIA is
currently a Project Leader for the OHIMA FY21-22 Board serving on the
Professional HIM & Coding Development strategy. Carol is an adjunct faculty with
The University of Cincinnati HIM program.
