WATERLOO, Iowa (April 10, 2019)—VGM has announced the schedule for its annual Heartland Conference, which takes place June 10–12, 2019.
VGM’s Heartland Conference, now in its 18th year, is a two-day, members-only conference and networking event. This event offers education related to the home medical equipment (HME) industry in areas such as retail, rehab, marketing, accessibility, compliance and leadership, among others.
“The Heartland 2019 schedule will be fairly familiar to those who have attended in past, but with quite a few updates and new additions,” said Jill Blaser, design and development manager at VGM Education, who oversees Heartland’s educational offerings. “One reason for this is that we wanted Heartland to be future-focused this year. There’s a lot to be optimistic about in the HME industry, and Heartland should reflect that.”
Each Heartland session is expected to address the future of the industry. To accomplish this, speakers were asked to dedicate some time in their presentations discussing how their particular topic might affect the industry in the next five years.
There was also a shift in the types of sessions offered this year. The 2019 Heartland Conference will feature 11 panel sessions. This is more than twice the number of panels hosted during last year’s conference.
“The increase in panel sessions is a direct response to attendee feedback,” stated Blaser. “Heartland attendees are extremely engaged in their industries, and they’re looking for a back-and-forth dialog that discusses various perspectives.”
To further expand the peer-to-peer learning opportunities, Heartland will again feature community dinners. These dinners allow attendees an informal atmosphere to discuss larger industry-specific trends for those in-home accessibility, complex rehab, respiratory, retail and HME young professionals.
Other items new to the Heartland Conference 2019 schedule include pre-conference sessions on retail and wound care, and education tracks focused on topics such as specialty markets and business leadership and people strategy. These new sessions and tracks were added specifically to help attendees plan for and adapt to the changing HME landscape.
“Our industry is constantly evolving, but Heartland is a reminder of what we can accomplish as a community when we keep growing and diversifying,” Blaser concluded.
To learn more about the Heartland Conference and see the full schedule, please visit vgmheartland.com.
