Abstracts are now being accepted for the 7th Annual National Healthcare Coalition Preparedness Conference in New Orleans on November 27-29, 2018.

About the Conference
This year, we’re continuing to grow the National Healthcare Coalition Preparedness Conference and further expand opportunities for learning and sharing about the implementation of healthcare coalitions and coalition activities in our communities. The Conference Planning Committee invites healthcare, public health, emergency medical services, emergency management, healthcare coalition and other professionals nationwide to showcase their best practices, training models, plans, tools, and other resources that promote and advance development of healthcare coalitions and describe effective coalition work in preparedness and response.

The Conference is operated by the non‐profit healthcare coalition MESH, based in Indianapolis.

Presentation Format
There are two presentation categories:

1. Oral presentations: Sessions are 75 minutes (including Q/A) and are designed to be interactive and produce identifiable outcomes. Presentations may be made by single or multiple presenter(s), or in panel formats. You will be asked to indicate which of the following four tracks your proposed presentation fits within:

• Coalition Development (Coalition Sustainability Models)
Healthcare coalitions across the country are at various stages of development and planning for future sustainability. Steps that are necessary to build healthcare coalitions include identifying members, defining governance structure, engaging community leaders and members and determining funding models. Presentations in this track will highlight examples on coalition development and various sustainability models from across the country. Additionally, presenters are encouraged to share supporting documentation or resources that are referenced within their presentation with attendees.


• Coalitions in Response / Real World Events and Exercises
Healthcare coalitions and their stakeholder members and the ESF-8 lead agency within their jurisdiction are working together to plan and collaborate to share and analyze information, manage and share resources, and coordinate strategies to deliver medical care to all populations during real world emergencies and planned events and exercises. Presentations in this category can also include lessons learned in the development of coalition emergency operations plans, response plans and information sharing and communication strategies. Presentations in this track will highlight examples of real world events and exercises in which lessons were learned from the coalition perspective of the response. Additionally, presenters are encouraged to share supporting documentation or resources that are referenced within their presentation with attendees.


• Coalitions and the Continuity of Care
Coalitions across the country are working with their stakeholder hospitals and other healthcare facilities to ensure they are able to provide uninterrupted, ideal medical care to all populations in the face of damaged or disabled health care infrastructure due to an emergency or disaster. Also, coalitions are working with their healthcare facilities to ensure that healthcare workers are well-trained, well-educated, and well-equipped to care for patients during emergencies. Simultaneous response and recovery result in a return to normal or, ideally, improved operations. Presentations in this track will highlight how coalitions are working with their stakeholders to prepare a continuity of operations plan; training healthcare workers and address supply chain issues. Additionally, presenters are encouraged to share supporting documentation or resources that are referenced within their presentation with attendees.


• Coalitions and Medical Surge
Health care organizations—including hospitals, emergency medical services (EMS), and out of-hospital providers— work to deliver timely and efficient care to their patients even when the demand for health care services exceeds available supply. Healthcare coalitions may serve in a coordinating function around information and available resources for its members to address medical surge response. Presentations in this category will address what happens when an emergency overwhelms the coalition’s collective resources, how the coalition supports the health care delivery system’s transition to contingency and crisis surge response and promotes a timely return to conventional standards of care as soon as possible.

2. Posters: Displays of innovative practices and award‐winning programs and documents. Posters will be displayed at the conference and presenters will be available at select times to answer questions about the materials displayed.

Submission Guidelines
Deadline ─ Abstracts must be received by Friday, June 29th at 11:59 PM EST

Required Content ─ Abstracts must include the following information, as indicated on the form:

• Primary Presenter Contact Information
• Type of Presentation (Oral or Poster, Single or Multiple Presenters, Panel)
• Program Categories (Poster presenters may leave this blank.)
• Presentation Title (75 Characters Maximum)
• Presentation Description (100 Words Maximum – for use in program, web, etc.)
• Abstract (350 Words Maximum)
• Learning Objectives: Define three objectives you intend the audience to achieve by the end of your presentation. (250 Characters Maximum per objective)
• Contact Information for Co‐Presenters
• Short Biography for Each Presenter (150 Words Maximum for Each Presenter)

Next Steps
Abstract Review ─ The Conference Planning Committee will carefully review abstracts. Not all abstracts will be accepted and some oral presentations may be referred to a poster presentation. The Conference Planning Committee, at its discretion, may also combine similar oral presentations into a panel presentation. You will be notified via email about your abstract status by the end of August. Please make sure your email address is correct.

Registration and Travel Costs ─ All accepted presenters are responsible for their own travel expenses and MUST register for the conference at a special, reduced rate for presenters.

For More Information
If you have any questions about the abstract submission process, please contact info@healthcarecoalitions.org.

The deadline to submit your abstracts is June 29, 11:59 PM EST.