The National Association for Home Care &
Hospice (NAHC) held its annual conference and exhibition
October 11-15, 2008 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Patient Care
Technologies, Inc. (PtCT) and MEDITECH were among the
conference exhibitors, showcasing the latest developments
with our home care and hospice solutions.
Held over four days, this year's 27th Annual Meeting hosted a
record number of attendees. The 2008 theme was "Charting
New Frontiers in Health Care," which was evident
throughout the sessions and discussions on the show floor as
members talked about what the 2008 election and current
financial crisis means for the health care environment. In
keeping with the current theme of change, the NAHC conference
featured a special guest speaker, former President Bill
Clinton, who emphasized the important role home care and
hospice will play in the future of our nation’s health
care system. He assured the audience these tough economic
times will actually serve as an opportunity for the home care
and hospice industry, as organizations are going to look more
and more to home care and telemonitoring technologies to
offset health care costs.
"NAHC is one of the biggest events for the home care and
hospice community," says Louise Salvatore, PT, senior
marketing support, who represented PtCT at the exhibition.
"This conference not only offers networking
opportunities for members, but also provides professional
development sessions for nurses and accountants to earn
Continuing Education (CE) hours." All of PtCT’s
directors took advantage of these educational opportunities,
attending sessions on staying ahead of the curve in
regulatory standards, new best practice initiatives, and
upcoming Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS)
changes.
In our booth, the PtCT team also talked with visitors, who
included some new faces as well as long-time customers
excited to see what's new with PtCT. Visitors were also
delighted to share conversation with Pat Stagner, RN, Maestro
implementation supervisor. "As a former Agency Director,
returning to NAHC this year as an exhibitor with PtCT gave me
the opportunity to connect with my former peers and show my
excitement for the benefits of Maestro," explains
Stagner. "I was proud to tell them I moved 730 miles
south for Maestro after a very successful 28-year home health
career in Ohio. I would ask them when they came into our
booth, 'what is the most troublesome issue in your agency?,'
then I was able to show them how Maestro would manage that
issue."
Stagner and Salvatore also offered demonstrations of Maestro’s
Home Health and Hospice Service Lines. Given the nation’s
growing emphasis on telehealth as an effective means to
provide high quality, efficient care remotely, PtCT’s
telehealth offering well@home was also a focal point of
demonstrations, whether in conjunction with routine Maestro
workflow or as a free standing offering.
“It was very gratifying to have unsolicited Maestro
clients stop by the booth to share their experiences with
attendees,” says Brian Doyle, director of home care
sales for PtCT. “I’m very proud to witness the
validation of our efforts first hand. Maestro has arrived and
the industry is taking notice.”
There's even more ahead for PtCT in the coming months and
into 2009. Stay tuned for more on the new hospice solution we
debuted at NAHC, as well as updates on our PtCT National User
Forum to be held March 25th-26th!
MEDITECH
Medical
Information Technology, Inc.
MEDITECH Circle
Westwood, MA 02090
781-821-3000
www.meditech.com