A Summary of the 28th CMSA Annual Conference and Expo

Pat Stricker, RN, MEd
Senior Vice President
TCS Healthcare Technologies

Congratulations to CMSA once again for another great conference! The 28^th Annual Conference and Expo was held at McCormick Place in downtown Chicago from June 19-23. There were nearly 2,000 attendees present representing numerous case management settings. The theme for this year’s conference was "We Are Case Management," recognizing and celebrating our accomplishments as nurses, social workers, consultants, educators, advocates, leaders, influencers and problem-solvers.

If you were lucky enough to attend the conference, you know what an exciting and rewarding experience it was. However, if you were not able to attend, I would like to highlight some of the key moments from the conference for you.

Pre-Conference Sessions

The Pre-conference sessions started on Tuesday, June 19^th and Wednesday June 20^th with all-day sessions that included: a Certification Workshop, an Integrated Case Management Face-to-Face Training, a Writer’s Workshop, and a Military/VA/DOD Day. Other offerings for Wednesday included a session for 1^st time attendees, as well as sessions on mentoring and public policy. It was also the 2^nd year for the Writer’s Workshop, which drew more than 100 attendees. This demonstrates the interest case managers have in wanting to write blogs, newsletters, articles, books, and other material to promote case management, share their experiences, and educate others about the value case managers bring to healthcare.

Keynote Speakers

As always, CMSA brought in entertaining and thought-provoking keynote speakers.

-Dr. Travis Stork, MD, star of The Doctors and a board-certified emergency medicine physician, presented the opening session. It was a humorous presentation on How to Live Your Best Life. He reminded case managers that they truly do "make a difference," but that in order to be there for our patients/clients we need to be sure to focus on our own health. He stressed how small, seemingly insignificant decisions we make every day actually have a significant impact on our life and health overall. For example, laughing has shown to be an important facet of life. Studies show that an average adult only truly laughs about 4-6 times a day, while toddlers laugh 300-400 times a day. In order to help us increase our laughs for the day, he played a video. Try watching it and see how many times you laugh. Dr. Stork also shared five important lessons to help us stay healthy:

• Let Food Be Your Medicine, Not Your Poison
• Sit Less, Move More
• The Mind and Body ARE Connected
• Focus on the "Health" in Health Care
• Make Health Your Hobby

-On Friday, Dr. Allan Hamilton, MD, FACS, discussed the current state of healthcare and the role that case managers can play in improving it. He reminded us that the United States outspends every other nation on healthcare, yet it ranks much lower than most in the quality of care; consumers’ out-of-pocket expenses are increasing; the fee-for-service payment system needs to be changed to curb over-utilization; and the ED is too often being used for primary care. And, amazingly, the average daily cost of a hospital stay increased 6,000 percent between 1958 and 2012 (yes, 6,000 percent)! Dr. Hamilton believes we need to shift to preventive care and a value-based payment system instead of our current episodic, interventional care and fee-for-service payments. He feels case managers are in the driver’s seat to become agents of change to lead the healthcare team in facilitating hospital and post-discharge services to make these positive changes.

-The closing keynote speaker, Dr. Rick Rigsby, Ph.D, is an ordained minister, motivational speaker, and author of Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout, the story of timeless common-sense wisdom learned from his father. His goal is to help empower people to rise to their greatest level of excellence and lead a truly fulfilling life by providing straightforward instructions, common-sense wisdom, and time-tested beliefs in a humorous, heart-warming manner. His presentation was a perfect ending to the conference, sending case managers off to reignite their passions and be the best case manager they can be. For an example of his presentation style and message, look at this video.

Educational Sessions

Of course, in addition to these fantastic keynote speakers, the conference also included over 100 educational concurrent sessions and symposia, and 38 poster presentations offering up to 37.5 hours of continuing education (CEs). The concurrent sessions are provided in three levels: Introductory, Intermediate and Advanced, and are categorized in the following tracks: Acute Care, Workers’ Comp, Long-term Care, Leadership, Population Health, Managed Care, Legal, and Discipline Specific CM. They focus on a wide range of content including practical, operational information about: healthcare reform; new healthcare programs and models of care; specific clinical conditions; best practices; lessons learned; transitions of care; readmissions; ways to improve clinical, social, and financial outcomes; building successful collaborative teams; defining leadership; and the latest innovations in technology (my favorite). There was certainly "something for everyone," regardless of the business model, practice setting, or clinical practice area each attendee represented.

For me, the best part of the conference was looking at the future and trying to learn more about how healthcare reform is going to change our practice. At this point, we still don’t have a clear picture of that, but we know it is changing, and the picture is beginning to come into focus. With increased technology and integration of systems, we will be able to bring together disparate healthcare providers and improve communications among the healthcare team. The ACO and medical home models have embedded case managers at the core, working closely with physicians – something we have wanted for a long time. Those are the types of models Dr. Hamilton sees as opportunities for case managers to become the leaders and change agents that are needed to bring about healthcare changes.

If you were not able to attend the conference, or you attended but missed some of the concurrent sessions, don’t worry – CMSA has you covered. The concurrent sessions were recorded and will be available online in August in the Educational Resource Library (ERL) for everyone to enjoy. It’s not quite as good as being there, but it’s the next best thing.

Annual Meeting

In addition to the educational portion of the conference, the 28th Annual Meeting of our professional association also occurred. CMSA’s national president, Mary McLaughlin-Davis, acknowledged the work of the 2017-2018 CMSA Board of Directors and welcomed the new 2018-2019 CMSA Board, including incoming president Jose Alejandro. She also recognized all of CMSA’s past presidents, thanked the volunteers who have contributed to CMSA’s success, recognized the members of the military and the VA, and honored the CMSA members who died since last year’s conference in a touching memorial video. In addition, she recognized the new, first-time attendees and encouraged them to reach out and ask questions of their peers, seek out their chapter leaders and get involved.

Jose Alejandro, CMSA’s incoming president, presented a number of revisions to the bylaws proposed by the bylaws committee, then called for a vote on the revisions from the members in attendance. The changes were approved.

Kathy Fraser, CMSA’s Executive Director, discussed CMSA’s Integrated Case Management, as well as the Integrated Case Management Training, which launched in 2018; the CMSA Standards of Professional Case Management Practice online course; the CMSA Opioid Use Disorder Case Management Guide; and comMIt: Comprehensive Motivational Interviewing Training for Health Care Professionals. She also mentioned CMSA’s collaborations with the Commission for Case Manager Certification and the American College of Physician Advisors.

Rebecca Perez announced that Margaret "Peggy" Leonard is stepping down as the CMSA Foundation President and Deborah Gutteridge will take her place. Deborah then explained the ongoing work of the Foundation.

The 2018 Awards Committee Chair, Terry Kelley, and Vice-Chair, Susie Ratterree, announced the winners of the 2018 Chapter Excellence and Innovation Awards:

·Award of Excellence for Conference Planning:Kansas City Chapter of CMSA

·Award of Excellence for Educational Programming:Long Island Chapter of CMSA

·Award of Excellence for Public Policy and Advocacy:Alamo Chapter of CMSA

·Award of Excellence for Membership Development:Case Management Society of Oklahoma

·Award of Excellence for Publishing and Promotion:Greater Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo Chapter of CMSA

·Award of Excellence for Best Use of Technology:Chicago Chapter of CMSA

· Award of Excellence for Chapter Revitalization: San Diego Chapter of CMSA

The meeting ended with a special drawing for four lucky attendees who won American Express Gift Cards.

The EXPO Hall, Networking, and "The Event"

Meals were hosted each day in the EXPO Hall, giving everyone a chance to talk with more than 200 vendors, who help support the conference and the case managers on a daily basis. Their representatives are well-prepared to keep you up to date on the latest services, products, and technology available to improve your practice.

The EXPO Hall is also FUN! The vendors provide free gifts to the attendees and raffle off larger items, including cash giveaways up to $500.

However the best reason most attendees cite for attending the conference is the opportunity to network with their peers. It is a great time to ask others how they are handling issues, get ideas on new programs, and learn about new innovative ways to handle ongoing programs. One of the best (and most fun!) networking events was the "Taste of Chicago Bash" held at the Lakeside Fountain Terrace overlooking Lake Michigan. The food included a variety of typical Chicago-style dishes and desserts, from chicken skewers to samosas and cheesecake bites. A live band on the terrace provided great music and a chance to dance. It was the perfect way to start the conference.

I don’t know how CMSA continues to put on the best professional conference year after year, but they do. If you haven’t had the opportunity to attend a CMSA conference, I would highly recommend it. It is truly something every case manager should experience. If your employer doesn’t pay for conferences and you think you can’t afford to pay for it yourself, think again. This is an investment in your career and future. The knowledge you obtain and the contacts you make at this conference can be invaluable to you.

CMSA is making it easy for you to attend the next year’s 29^th CMSA Annual Conference and EXPO in Las Vegas from June 10-14, 2019.

If you attended in Chicago and register for the 2019 conference now through July 15, 2018, CMSA is offering a discounted, "Show Special" registration rate that includes a free 12 month CMSA membership. But you must register by July 15, 2018. Click here to see the details and register.

I hope to see you next year in Las Vegas! I can’t wait to see how CMSA is going to improve on this year!

Pat Stricker, RN, MEd, is senior vice president of Clinical Services at TCS Healthcare Technologies. She can be reached at pstricker@tcshealthcare.com.