News AAPC Healthcon Update

HEALTHCON and the Coronavirus/Covid-19

03/11/2020

Earlier today, and as expected, the World Health Organization upgraded COVID-19 to a pandemic. Since the safety and wellbeing of AAPC members, employees, speakers and partners remains a high priority, we are working with health officials and Disney to assess what this change in status means for HEALTHCON 2020.

Beyond spread, the degree to which a pandemic is defined remains ambiguous (according to the severity of the disease, or whether it may be simply described as often producing many illnesses and deaths.)

We will continue to provide you with more information as it becomes available. For now, we thank you for your continued support and patience.


3/10/2020

While AAPC is continuing with plans to host HEALTHCON at Disney’s Coronado Springs (April 5-8), we are actively monitoring the global spread of the 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19). Safety remains a top priority as we collaborate with health officials and work with Disney to take appropriate precautions.

As of this writing, the CDC continues to note that for the majority of people, the immediate risk of being exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19 is low. They also report limited circulation in most communities in the United States. However, they (and we) now advise that older people, and people of all ages with severe underlying health conditions (e.g. heart disease, lung disease and diabetes), take special precautions, including to “avoid crowds as much as possible”.



As added notes and protective measures:

• Disney will remain open and continue to follow stringent sanitation procedures and guidelines set out by the CDC and WHO.
• The Orlando Airport (MCO) is complying with current travel restrictions and implementing additional safety measures to keep everyone safe, including increasing its cleaning schedule.
• In accordance with government health authorities, travel to HEALTHCON from China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, and other high risk countries is not permitted in 2020.
• To prevent illness and the spread of germs, we will have hand sanitizer available at the event; and shared surfaces (doorknobs, keyboards, microphones, presentation materials, etc.) will be routinely sanitized with disinfectants.
• Your help is appreciated to avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands. Clean your hands often by washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer — especially before eating and after coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose, or using the restroom.
• HEALTHCON will adopt a no-handshake policy

For the nearly 2,000 who will be joining us in Orlando, we look forward to another amazing and HEALTHCON.

Bevan Erickson

CEO | AAPC

HEALTHCON and the Coronavirus/Covid-19 Updates

For the nearly 2,000 who will be joining us in Orlando, we look forward to another amazing and HEALTHCON.

www.healthcon.com

 

[Jesus]

 

[Lori]

Healthcon announcement from AAPC. We'd like to thank you all for waiting patiently as we’ve been working through some tough decisions related to HEALTHCON 2020. As you can imagine, this situation is unprecedented and we needed the time to explore all options to ensure your safety.

With the majority of you asking us to continue moving forward with the event at Disney’s Coronado Springs, we wanted to thoughtfully evaluate the options for the conference and ensure we did not make any irreversible decisions too quickly. We have sought counsel from the CDC, the WHO, the State of Florida, Disney and AAPC’s National Advisory Board. Regretfully, with only three weeks left, it is time that we move in a different direction.

HEALTHCON 2020 will now be a virtual event, streamed live from April 5-8.

There is no need to contact us at this time regarding your registration. We plan to provide you with full details and answer all of your questions with an official announcement on Monday at 5 pm EST/4 pm CST/ 3 pm MST/2 pm PST.

Thank you again for all of your support and understanding as we navigate this unprecedented situation.

 

[Lori]

Update on Healthcon 2020

HEALTHCON 2020 Virtual Conference Announcement

To safeguard the health of attendees, speakers, AAPC employees, AAPC exhibitors and the general public, HEALTHCON 2020 will now be a virtual event. All registrations for this year will be automatically transferred and honored for what will be a first-of-its kind gathering for HEALTHCON. In addition to the virtual event, all previously registered attendees will receive the following:

• Access to more than 80 sessions of continuing education

• Earn unlimited CEUs
• Free recordings of all conference sessions
• 50% off* registration of any future AAPC conference of your choosing in 2020 or 2021, including our regional events in Denver (August 12-14) and Charleston (September 14-16) or HEALTHCON 2021, which will be held in Dallas (March 28-31, 2021).
The conference will be streamed live from April 6-8. Here are some important times to be aware of:
• Registrants for the E/M Guideline Changes pre-conference event will now be transitioned to a new online course. Details will be published shortly.
• The first HEALTHCON session will begin on the morning of Monday, April 6. We are still working on the final schedule and will publish at the early availability.
• The last HEALTHCON session will end the afternoon of Wednesday, April 8.
We know this is a blow to many of you who hoped we could stay the course with Orlando. We look forward all year to this special event and seeing all of you. If the virtual option does not work for you, please email us at [email protected]. Given the call volume we are currently receiving, this will ensure we can assist you in a reasonable time.
Thank you again for all of your support and understanding as we navigate this unprecedented situation. Additional FAQs can be found below in the comments.