2013 VGM Heartland Conference

WATERLOO, Iowa, April 18, 2013—The VGM Heartland Conference has become a June tradition in the HME industry, but organizers aren’t resting on their laurels for the 2013 edition, June 10-13 in VGM Group Inc.’s hometown of Waterloo, Iowa. “New” is an apt description for many aspects of the industry’s premier educational event. Four pre-conference sessions will be offered June 10:

• Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting Program, offered by Accessible Home Improvement of America, will certify attendees in Lead Safe Work Practices as required by the EPA.
• Billing and Reimbursement Road Show with Peggy Walker and Ronda Buhrmester, Medicare billing from start to finish.
• Brightree: “The Total Package-A Billing and Business Management System” by Kathy Quehl, added because of member demand.
• Sales Training Fast and Furious presented by industry icon Louis Feuer, and designed for all sales and marketing staff.

A new track, Wound Care, has been added, bringing the total to nine tracks of education: Executive and Business Operations, Respiratory and Sleep, Products and Technology, Regulatory and Legislative, Sales and Marketing, Billing and Reimbursement, Accessibility and Rehab. Acclaimed wound care expert Martin Winkler, M.D., vascular surgeon and advanced wound care practitioner, will present two sessions. Nearly 20 new speakers are participating, and more than 80 sessions will be offered, the majority of which qualify for continuing education units.

“VGM’s tagline in our advertising this year has been ‘a better way to do business’ and for Heartland we’re focusing on revenue opportunities, business innovations and networking,” said Ron Bendell, president of VGM. “We’ve added small group discussions on business topics, and sessions that are designed to help our members succeed with new revenue sources and take proactive approaches to the audits that are plaguing HME. What hasn’t changed is the Midwestern hospitality our members have come to expect. We look forward to this event all year.”

Teofilo L. Lee-Chiong Jr., M.D., professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver and at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, and chief medical liaison for Philips Respironics, will present “Management of Complicated Sleep Apnea: Advanced PAP Therapy” June 12. He is the recipient of the 2012 American Academy of Sleep Medicine Excellence in Education Award.

Laura Cohen, Ph.D., PT, ATP/SMS is the principal for Rehabilitation & Technology Consultants, LLC in Arlington, Va. She is the executive director of The Clinician Task Force, a national group of seating and mobility clinicians working to influence Medicare and Medicaid coding, coverage, and payment policies for complex rehab and assistive technology devices. For the past 15 years, she has provided second level review services for a third party payer reviewing DME requests in 21 states. She will be co-presenting, with U.S. Rehab’s Elizabeth Cole, “Deep Dive into Defensible Documentation,” June 11.

Keynote speaker Chad Knaus will rev up the crowd June 11 with his thoughts on “Building a Successful Team in a Competitive Environment.” He’s an expert on successful teams. As crew chief for No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, Knaus and racing icon Jimmie Johnson won an unprecedented five consecutive NASCAR championships. 

New locations for the anticipated Heartland networking events will debut in 2013. The opening Hog Roast June 10 will take place in downtown Waterloo in the RiverLoop Amphitheatre. The fireworks will rival most municipal displays. Electric Park Ballroom, where Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey played, will be the new venue for the June 12 Mardi Gras-themed Heartland Networking Gala.  Registration, for VGM Group members only, may be completed at www.vgmheartland.com. Early bird rates apply for those who register by May 17.