MTs: Get Thee to Tennessee!
I'm off to Nashville tomorrow for the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity's (AHDI) Annual Convention and Expo (ACE), and I couldn't be more excited to toss off the headphones (those interviews don't transcribe themselves!) for a few days in the music capital.
MTs, managers and quality assurance (QA) specialists are already descending upon Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center for the event, and I'm pretty darn jealous I'm not there yet. From the looks of it, the Gaylord Opryland is a virtual Disney World of amusement in itself. Restaurants, clubs, shopping? Ho-hum. An indoor riverboat ride? Now that's southern hospitality. And ladies and gentlemen, the Food Network is in the building. Celebrity chefs including the Neelys, Deen brothers and Alton Brown are expected to be on hand for the Southern Food and Wine Festival, which is filming at the convention center this week. If you want to guarantee some face-to-face time with the Deen boys, you can purchase tickets for Friday night's cooking seminar and meet-and-greet. As for me, I'll be crossing my fingers for a casual run-in.
After two days of pre-conference activities, including a board of directors meeting and house of delegates gathering, ACE officially kicks off tomorrow night with the "Roadhouse Roundup Welcome Reception." Attendees can kick up their heels and catch up with friends during this knee-slapping good networking opportunity. I'll be there to snap some shots and get the inside scoop on conference buzz, so keep an eye out!
The camera will also be flashing in the exhibit hall, which opens Thursday morning. My first stop? The ADVANCE booth, of course! Check us out at booth 301--you can peruse the latest issues of ADVANCE and score some gear from our Healthcare Shop. Then it's round and round through the hall to see what's new in the world of transcription.
But in the end, we're all there to learn, and there are a number of hot topics on the docket. I'm scoping out the latest on ICD-10, EHRs and quality measures, and I'll check in with Susan Lucci, AHDI president, to get an update on the Health Story Project, which we highlighted last April. Watch for our video interview with Lucci in upcoming conference coverage.
Off to tie up some loose ends before tomorrow's flight. Make sure to check back throughout the week to see how ACE pans out!