Thoughts on the 23rd Annual Conference

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By Pat Stricker, RN, M Ed
SVP of Clinical Services
TCS Healthcare Technologies

It seems like I say this every year, but.........congratulations to CMSA on another great conference!  There were nearly 2,000 attendees in New Orleans representing various case management settings.  The optional pre-conference events included sessions on preparing for certification, case management in the Acute Care setting, a URAC CM Standards Workshop, an ICM-CAG training, and clinical symposia.

Once the conference started, the keynote speakers were terrific. Dr. Carl Hammerschlag, an internationally recognized psychiatrist, master storyteller, and expert on how to survive in rapidly changing cultures, presented a very thought-provoking, insightful, and entertaining opening keynote address on Authenticity and Leadership. Jill Taylor, a Ph.D. neuroanatomist (brain scientist) at Harvard, described her experience of suffering a rare form of stroke, an arterio-venous malformation (AVM). She shared how she studied her own stroke as it happened – from the inside out. It was truly riveting.  (She gave a similar presentation at a TED conference and I would highly recommend that you watch it, as over 11 million viewers have done.) And finally, Mike Rayburn delivered the closing session, a motivational, inspiring, hilarious presentation challenging the attendees to access their gold mine of unrealized potential – to master the things that matter.

During the conference itself, over 100 educational symposiums, concurrent sessions, and poster presentations were offered, focusing on a variety of topics. Sessions included practical, operational information about specific clinical conditions and/or programs presented by case managers, to the future of health care and health care reform. There was certainly "something for everyone," regardless of the business model, practice setting, or clinical practice area each attendee represented.

These concurrent sessions will be available online by mid-August in the "Extended Conference" section of the Knowledge Center for everyone to enjoy. So if you were not able to attend the conference, or you attended but missed some of the concurrent sessions, you’ll be able to enjoy them online at your convenience.

In addition to the educational portion of the conference, the 23rd Annual Meeting of our professional association also occurred, along with the Awards Event that recognized excellence for a chapter, case manager, service organization, CM research, and CM practice improvement.

And last, but not least, the opportunities for networking were superb. Lunch was hosted each day in the exhibit hall, giving  everyone a chance to not only talk with more than 200 vendors -- who help support the conference and the case managers on a daily basis -- but to review the poster presentations, and network with other attendees.

But the best networking (and fun!) event was the opening night "Mardi Gras Carnival Parade" down the streets of New Orleans.  It featured a marching band, stilt walkers, other parade revelers, and all of us -- the CMSA conference attendees. Some came prepared for the parade with costumes, masks, beautiful hats, and of course, lots of beads!!  The rest of the evening included great Cajun, Creole, and southern specialties for dinner and a wonderful New Orleans band that "rocked the night away"!  They were great at involving the crowd. You’d be surprised how well some of the case managers can dance on stage – for example, Nancy Skinner.

How do they do it? CMSA puts on the best professional conference year after year. 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. I hope to see you next year at the 24th Annual Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. (I’ll bet it will have something to do with the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame"). I can’t wait to see how they are going to improve on this year!

To contact Pat Stricker:

Email her at pstricker@tcshealthcare.com  or reach her at (530) 886-1700 ext. 215.

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