ACHE = Wonderful

The ACHE conference was FANTASTIC!

Everyone warned me that I'd be so tired and would feel like crawling in a hole after ACHE. I thought the contrary; it was invigorating and intellectually-stretching. Sure, I'm tired, but that's from the uber-early mornings and the fact that I've been fighting off a sinus infection (or something) all week.

This is where it pays to work with doctors all day long. I texted one of the docs I work with and he's bringing me antibiotics tomorrow morning. One of the few perks of my job!

So, back to ACHE. I was nervous when I boarded the train in the pre-dawn of Monday morning, wondering if I could find my way around the Hyatt hotel (it's huge). It's a recurring nightmare of mine that events like this don't have record of me registering. I'm happy to report that they had me on file and that I registered successfully! Monday was the opening address and sessions on strategic planning and market reform. Basically, it was healthcare reform day, especially because the healthcare reform bill had passed the House Sunday night. It was slated to pass the Senate on Monday/Tuesday, and be quickly signed into law by the Pres.

Now, I know the healthcare reform bill raises hair on a lot of peoples' neck and incites wide-spread argument. This was the beauty of my session on healthcare policy. It presented the unbiased, unopinionated facts. There are so many perceptions, opinions, and biases out there, that it's hard to get an objective take on the bill.

While I could give you a Cliff's Notes version of the bill (which would include the fact that it's proposing to extend healthcare coverage to 32M people but cannot promise actual healthcare to these people...coverage doesn't guarantee ACCESS) I won't. The bill is going to really hinder hospitals' finances, with the introduction of value-based purchasing, bundled Medicare payments, and decreased disportionate share payments. How else will we pay for the swell of Babyboomers about to hit the Medicare paydirt?

That's the bottom line of the healthcare reform bill....it's paving the way for a fundamental paradigm shift in the U.S. Government's methodology of healthcare reimbursement. Most of the changes will not be fully implemented until 2015, so we have five more years to fight over the political, socio-economical fallout from the bill.

That, and its many numerations! Is there a Reconciliation Bill in the House? Pun intended!

Anyway, Tuesday started with another policy update on healthcare reform. I was afraid that healthcare reform would trump all the sessions' educational material. While it couldn't have been better timing that the healthcare bill was passed, it did come up an awful lot in conversation!
So after the policy update, I attended session on value-based leadership and physician alignment strategies. Then I went to lunch with a new group of newbie administrators at Tavern at the Park (as in Millennium Park). Newbie administrators seem drawn to each other and we scoped each other out during one of the coffee breaks. They were from LA, Detroit, South Carolina, and Texas. We had a lively conversation (about hc reform!). I also met folks from Denver, Miami, Cincy, and Seattle. In fact, I was the "boring" one who actually lives and works pretty close to Chicago!

The on Wednesday, I had an incredible, life-changing conference experience. I went to a three-hour workshop on leadership. The title was something like, "Leadership Tools for Emerging Healthcare Executive Wannabe's." The room was full of newbies like me, students, military personnel, and seasoned COO and CEO's. I thought it would be all newbies, but was pleasantly surprised at the audience's diversity. The subject matter was wonderful; the two session leaders were professors at a renowned graduate school for business execs. It was a religious experience for me and I felt so intellectually fulfilled by the session.

Sure, my back was killing me after 3 hours, but hey, sacrifices are necessary!

In the session, I sat next to a gentleman from one of the largest hospitals systems in the U.S. We chatted about the session, the lessons we learned, and how they relate to our lives at our respective hospitals. After the session, we both headed to lunch, one of the conference's highlights. In the grand ballroom of the hotel, 2500 people sat down to a terrific lunch and a phenomenal speaker on the Ethics of Leadership (one of my personal favorite topics). The speaker was the primary whistle blower in the Enron implosion and related a mystifying, yet terrifying story of what *really* happened in Enron.

It was a wonderful day and as I meandered back to the train station in the late afternoon, I felt an overwhelming tinge of sadness that the conference was over. I was fretting on Sunday, since everyone told me how overwhelming the conference was. And here I was, wishing I could do it all over again! The conference suited me (or rather, I suited the conference). After the first couple hours, I fit in. I felt comfortable. I networked with dozens of executives. I was in awe that, not only did the shoes fit, but I LIKED the way they looked on me.

So I do have an ACHE hangover, but I'm hoping to fix that when I receive my dose of antibiotics in the morning!