SPS 2016 Meeting to Feature Top Minds in Healthcare Innovation

Full disclosure: I’m the co-coordinator of the conference I’m about to tell you about. But—still on the full disclosure front—I’m a cynical person who doesn’t get excited easily. I’ve been going to healthcare and telehealth conferences since 2005, so I’ve become a little jaded when it comes to listening to presentations and panels.

And yet, I’m very excited about SPS 2016.

SPS 2016 is the second national Telemedicine & Telehealth Service Provider Showcase, coming to Phoenix, AZ, June 21-22. It’s the only conference focusing on linking companies and programs that provide clinical telemedicine services with the hospitals, healthcare systems, clinics, and other organizations that need to bring these services to their patients.

So here’s why I’m excited: This year’s roster of speakers and panelists features some of the biggest names in the telemedicine and telehealth arena, along with company founders, program innovators, and leaders in partnership initiatives. They’ll cover the gamut of telemedicine services subjects, from winning telehealth strategies, to succeeding as a service provider, to finding the perfect partner, to negotiating legal and policy hurdles, to integrating remote tele-providers into organizations.

Building on the SPS 2014 content, which participants praised as valuable and informative, the SPS 2016 schedule is jam-packed with useful information and thoughtful discussion from the experts in each area.

As I’ve read and posted the confirmed speakers’ bios, I’ve been amazed at their accomplishments and expertise. Here are just a few tidbits:

• Jim Mault, MD, VP and CMO of Qualcomm Life, founded five health IT and medical device companies, has more than 80 issued and pending US patents for health information and medical device innovations, and has specialized in heart and lung transplants.
• Pat Basu, MD, MBA, CMO and President of Doctor On Demand, served as a White House Fellow and a consultant to Fortune 500 firms, as well as winning the AMA’s National Excellence in Medicine Award for Leadership.
• Kristi Henderson, DNP, VP for Telehealth & Innovation, Seton Healthcare Family, has testified before U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittees and the White House Domestic Policy Council, gave a TEDx talk, and will speak at the 2016 SXSW in Austin.
• Mary Ellen Pratt, MHA, CEO of St. James Parish Hospital, chairs the AHA Small and Rural Hospital Governing Council, won the Quorum Health Resources CEO Award for Best Performing Critical Access Hospital, and was named one of the nation’s “Top 50 Rural Hospital CEOs to Know” by the Becker Hospital Review.
• Dan Derksen, MD, Director of the Arizona Center for Public Health, completed an RWJ Health Policy Fellowship with U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, where he researched and drafted provisions included in the Affordable Care Act.
• Jim Dickson, MBA, CEO/Administrator, Copper Queen Community Hospital, led the hospital from a struggling facility to a profitable, nationally recognized rural healthcare network that is among the top 5 percent of hospitals nationally due to its innovative use of technology.
• Raymond Hino, MPA, President and CEO of Sonoma West Medical Center, is founding chair of the California Critical Access Hospital Network and was named to the inaugural list of Becker’s Hospital Review’s “50 Rural Hospital CEOs to Know.”
• Alexis Gilroy, JD, Partner at Jones Day, is a board member of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), an appointee to the Maryland Governor’s Telemedicine Taskforce, a subject matter expert for the FSMBs’ workgroup on telemedicine, and leader of the American Health Lawyer Association’s E-Health and Telemedicine Affinity Group.
• Richard Bakalar, MD, Managing Directory, Advisory Services in Healthcare Solutions, KPMG, has held executive leadership positions at Microsoft and IBM, is a past president of the ATA, and established the US Navy’s global telemedicine network.
• Mario Gutierrez, MPH, Executive Director of the Center for Connected Health Policy, won the 2007 Terrance Keenan National Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy, chairs the Rural Policy Research Institute’s Rural Human Services Advisory Panel, and serves on the OCHIN board.

Come to SPS 2016 to hear what these and other speakers and panelists have to say and pick their brains during Q&A and expo hall networking opportunities.

Registration is open; we hope you’ll join us for this amazing confluence of experts and information!