When AHIP Institute convenes on June 15, the conference and exhibition will in reality be four events rolled into one.
On Tuesday, prior to the official start of Institute 2011, AHIP has put together concurrent day-long programs that tackle a couple of the most pressing issues facing health plans today and in the coming years: compliance with changes due to the Affordable Care Act and preparing for the introduction of health insurance exchanges.
The intent of running the two programs in addition to the exhibition and the usual broad conference offerings on Thursday and Friday was to concentrate educational opportunities for payer executives in a single event.
"We know all of you are busy and have no extra time, so we have endeavored to put a program together that will give you the maximum amount of information in the shortest amount of time," said Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of AHIP, in a video aimed at potential attendees.
The Exchange conference on Tuesday, June 15, is the second in a three part series AHIP is presenting to help payers prepare and plan for the launch of state health insurance exchanges in 2014. The first installment was in March at AHIP's Policy Summit in Washington and the third in the series will be held this fall at AHIP's Fall Forum in Chicago.
The Compliance Forum, also on Tuesday, is designed specifically for health insurance plan compliance officers and health attorneys. Its purpose is to help companies re-focus their efforts to ensure the companies will meet compliance objectives in the new environment under health reform.
"We are focusing on exchanges. We are focusing on compliance, with a very strong emphasis on the materials [insurance executives] need to do [their] jobs everyday," Ignagni said.
On Thursday, the broader conference program will run the gamut from sessions on ACOs and medical cost containments to employer-based insurance and how to eliminate healthcare fraud.
In the exhibit hall, more than 170 exhibitors will showcase their products and services and there will also be a number of small presentation theaters throughout the hall providing presentations from a range of exhibitors.
To make navigating both the exhibits and the conferences easier, AHIP is offering a mobile app, sponsored by ConnectYourCare, that will allow attendees to access agendas, session descriptions, speaker information, events, the exhibit hall floor plan and sponsor/exhibitor information before, during, and after the conference via their mobile devices.