AAPC News

HEALTHCON 2016 Wraps Up

By Alex McKinley

Nearly 2,700 professionals representing the business of health care converged on Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, in Orlando, Florida, April 9-13 for HEALTHCON 2016, AAPC’s 24th annual national conference. Attendees represented every state in the nation and included international visitors from the Bahamas, Canada, India, Qatar, South Africa, South America, and United Arab Emirates. The event was one of the highest-attended national conference events in AAPC’s history.

Conference sessions covered a wider spectrum of topics than years past, including medical coding for outpatient and inpatient services, career development, compliance, auditing, and other relevant issues to health care professionals. Many sessions focused on growing trends in the field, such as risk management, value-based payment, the use of medical scribes, legal issues, and health care techniques and technology. Presenters represented a variety of backgrounds and included the largest-ever panel of physician presenters.

AAPC CEO Jason VandenAkker opened HEALTHCON with an overview of the association, which now totals more than 155,000 members, of which nearly 105,000 carry AAPC certifications in medical coding, billing, practice management, auditing, and compliance. VandenAkker referenced Walt Disney’s challenges in creating the Disney Company, noting the failures the mogul overcame to reach his goal of having his cartoons distributed throughout the world. He reminded health care professionals that they will face similar challenges and failures throughout their careers, but those who are focused on their objective and exercise persistence will not be deterred.

The event raised more than $10,000 for the AAPC Chapter Association’s Hardship Fund, which offers financial aid to AAPC members with membership and certification challenges in times of financial difficulty. Funds were raised via raffle and through the second annual RUN4ONE run/walk event.

HEALTHCON will return to Las Vegas May 7-10, 2017 to mark the 25th anniversary of the annual conference. Learn more about HEALTHCON at www.healthcon.com.

— Alex McKinley is senior marketing communications manager at AAPC.

Tweets From #AAPCHEALTHCON

@aapcstaff
“You have to ask a patient if they want telemedicine.” - Marybeth McCall, MD, COC, CPC #aapchealthcon

@UroCodingQueen
@aapcstaff “$2 billion spent in ER visits in 2013 -90% could have been avoided.” - Dr. McCall @AmerUrological

@aapcstaff
“Privacy is something we haven’t begun to figure out yet.” - Scott Klososky #aapchealthcon

@Y_Soup
This conference reaffirms that I am in a female dominated field. #aapchealthcon

@aapcstaff
“Look at what’s not supposed to be there and fill it with something better.” - Stephanie Cecchini, CHISP, CPC, CEMC #aapchealth

@CRNHealthcare
Luck is when opportunity meets preparation. - Stephanie Cecchini AAPC 2016 Healthcon

@UroCodingQueen
.@aapcstaff “Success is not related to talent, power or control. Success is related to the power to start.” - Ms. Cecchini

@Lisa_Eramo
As soon as you get comfortable, it’s time to learn something new. #sixfigurecoders #aapc #healthcon

@aapcstaff
“When you’re putting your compliance plans in place, don’t add items you will not follow.” - Raemarie Jimenez #aapchealthcon