The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), the nation’s leading nonprofit authority on the use of health IT to create efficiencies in health care information exchange and a statutory advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), today announced 2019 WEDI Winter Conference: Connect, Communicate, Collaborate will be held December 2-5 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Va. Headlining the event will be several health care and policy thought-leaders including Dr. Donald Rucker, national coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), who will offer insights on administrative health IT policies.

A host of health care IT stakeholders, including payers, providers, government regulators and vendors, will gather during the four-day event to network and collaborate around sessions focusing on topics such as data exchange and the opioid crisis, FHIR, APIs, TEFCA, ICD-11, privacy and security, new Medicare card, as well as health care and its impact on the 2020 election.

“With an election year just around the corner as well as key legislative decisions including a final TEFCA ready to shape our industry, this is an exciting and extremely pivotal time for every health care stakeholder,” said Charles W. Stellar, WEDI president and CEO. “We’re looking forward to connecting with attendees on these crucial topics as we hear about best practices and future collaboration with those who are helping guide our industry through this critical time.”

Beyond general sessions featuring some of the top influencers in health care, the WEDI Winter Conference will offer attendees dozens of breakout sessions and educational workshops led by industry experts, including:

• Dr. William Hazel, former Commonwealth of Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources and current Special Advisor for Innovation and Community Engagement at George Mason University, who will discuss the need and value of data exchange in combating the opioid crisis.
   
• Dr. Sheila Kusnoor, Senior Research Information Scientist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Center for Knowledge Management who will explore learning from ICD-10, preparing for ICD-11.
   
• Dr. Monica Kay, Director, Division of Program Management at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) who will discuss the New Medicare Card Program – End of Transition
• Mariann Yeager, CEO of the Sequoia Project who will discuss updating, implementing and maintaining TEFCA.

The Winter Conference will kick-off with WEDI workgroup meetings held on Monday, December 2 and will provide all conference attendees with a unique opportunity to discuss emerging developments in the industry with workgroup members.

A complete conference agenda will be available and updated regularly on the WEDI website. The conference is open to all interested health care stakeholders across provider, payer, vendor and government entities. Both WEDI members and non-members can register online for the conference with group and early registration discounts available through October 25.