by
Gus Iversen, Editor in Chief | May 23, 2022
From the May 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
HCB News: This year's eXchange will take place in San Antonio, Texas. Why was that location chosen?
PA: AAMI members hail from every part of the country, and eXchange is moved around each year so that our attendees, many of whom might not have the opportunity to travel across the country to attend a conference, can participate easily. It was time to go back to Texas, where eXchange has historically done very well, and San Antonio is a wonderful city for a conference. It has a great convention center and great hotels, amazing food and attractions — including the River Walk which we are taking full advantage of. We’ll be hosting the first ever AAMI Party on a private grotto on the River Walk and our Appreciation Reception will take place at the Hard Rock Cafe overlooking the River Walk. It’s going to be a fun year to get the community back together!
HCB News: Will there be a virtual component this year?
PA: Across AAMI we’ve created numerous opportunities for folks to engage virtually, whether in virtual meetings or participating in our virtual training, but being together in person at AAMI eXchange is our focus for this year. We’re really pulling out the stops to make it a great experience for live attendees in San Antonio.
Much like we did with the all-virtual eXchange REWIRED, we will be offering some livestreamed content. Our network-style programming was incredibly popular last year and so we’ll be doing a scheduled show from the Expo floor one hour each day along with some impromptu livestreams throughout the event. That’ll be freely available to anyone who can’t make it, but it won’t cover everything. It’ll be a great movie trailer but not the whole film!
HCB News: For those who are unfamiliar, what type of equipment stakeholders should consider membership in AAMI?
PA: AAMI encourages any organization consuming or developing healthcare products to join. In the healthcare industry, AAMI is the bridge between HDO leadership, HTM departments, service providers, and medical device manufactures. AAMI’s community advances industry-wide consensus standards on critical issues such as sterilization, electrical safety, combination products, wireless, cybersecurity, and much more. We need folks from the health systems thinking about “who should I be taking from my technology team to participate in these important discussions?”
HCB News: What are you most looking forward to at the conference?
PA: There’s going to be this heartwarming feeling, almost like a “family reunion,” that you don’t want to miss out on. We’ve all been missing that in-person factor, and I’m looking forward to seeing our member base having that ability to pick one another’s brains, laugh together, and share in the joy of seeing old friends face-to-face after such a long time.
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