By John Wallace
MD Expo experienced a return to pre-COVID numbers at the fall conference in Southern California with almost 800 people in attendance. The signature MD Publishing event included 427 attendees and a total of 791 professionals from the healthcare technology management (HTM) industry at the Pechanga Casino & Resort in Temecula, California.
MD Publishing President John Krieg was amazed by the continued industry support for the MD Expo from students beginning their path to a biomed career all the way to C-suite level executives at health care systems and leading companies.
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has made hosting in-person conferences very difficult. MD Expo SoCal marked a return to pre-pandemic attendance levels.
“This was an extra special MD Expo for multitude of reasons,” Krieg said.
He listed those reasons as:
- First time back in SoCal since the pandemic, where we had one scheduled for April 2020.
- First MD Expo where numbers exceeded pre-pandemic levels, from total attendees (almost 800) including exhibitors (125+) and sponsors.
- One of the best educational line-ups, keynote speakers, variety of exhibit hall vendors, and finale party entertainment, all of which felt like it was back to normal again!
Krieg also alluded to the excitement in the air has hundreds of HTM professionals came together for educational sessions, networking and an exhibit hall offering some of the best solutions from around the industry.
“The energy, environment and overall attitude was beyond exciting,” he said. “We could not be happier with the turnout! See you at ICE in February in Nashville and in April for MD Expo Houston!”
MD Publishing Vice President Kristin Leavoy, CMP, echoed Krieg.
“MD Expo SoCal exceeded all expectations for a successful event! We are so thankful to be able to return to southern California and to pre-COVID attendance numbers,” Leavoy said.
The conference was a huge success with top-notch educational sessions, a sold out and packed exhibit hall and signature networking events that included the final night party – Lars-a-palooza, sponsored by ShopMedParts.com. The concert featured the Main Squeeze – an American funk band from Bloomington, Indiana.
The educational offerings included subject matter experts presenting on pertinent topics including right to repair, imaging, leadership, staffing and more. The 2022 MD Expo SoCal event was approved for up to 7.5 CEUs by the AAMI Credentials Institute (ACI).
Norton Healthcare DME Quality Engineer (ISO 13485 Leader) Mark Cooksey was blown away by MD Expo.
“MD Expo celebrates healthcare technology management with excellent educational topics that are important to everyone in the field. The training presentations cover a variety of topics ranging from highly detailed repair practices to more broad topics and trends related to the industry’s ‘right to repair.’ The best part is that the presenters share examples of what works in their organizations not just theory,” Cooksey said when asked how he would describe MD Expo. “The MD Expo vendors offer excellent education related to their goods and services. MD Expo celebrates HTM through excellent motivational keynote speakers. Finally, MD Expo celebrates HTM through its themed parties where you can create connections to leaders from all over the country.”
Cooksey struggled when asked to talk about his favorite aspect of MD Expo.
“It’s tough to pick a favorite part because everything was so well planned and executed,” he said. “As a new leader in HTM, the training sessions were my favorite parts of MD Expo. TechNation does a terrific job of vetting the presenters so that participants get the most from the experience.”
When asked to describe MD Expo in three words, Cooksey said, “Celebration, Education, Connection.”
Tedd Koh from Olive View UCLA Medical Center agreed.
“MD Expo is a very informative event for HTM to make networking, get new concepts of technologies,” Koh said.
“MD Expo is an excellent source of information for HTM professionals,” added Ronald Wood, a biomed technician with Kaiser Permanente, Zion MC San Diego, California.
Medygate Inc. CEO Dariush Yaghoubi also shared positive feedback.
“MD Expo is a great professional setting to find reliable resources, find solutions to pending technical issues and see your old colleagues and friends,” Yaghoubi said.
ETALONS-Mexico Director Roberto Benitez went even further in his praise.
“MD Expo is the best medical expo in the U.S.A.,” Benitez said.
MD Publishing is busy planning its next conferences.
The 2023 Imaging Conference and Expo (ICE) is set for Nashville, Tennessee, in February. Find out more at AttendICE.com.
The spring 2023 MD Expo will be held in Houston, Texas. The 2023 fall MD Expo is slated for magical Orlando, Florida.
For more information about MD Expo and/or sign up for the newsletter visit MDExpoShow.com.
