Dr. Alexander H. Vo, from the University of Texas Medical Branch, talked about ways his facility has succeeded in cutting down emergency department visits by as much as 50 percent. He particularly emphasized the value in meeting behavioral health needs through telemedicine, citing primary care providers as frequently overworked and lacking the proper expertise to treat many of those special cases.

Vo said patients with behavioral health issues account for roughly 20 percent of insured patients, and have medical costs two to three times greater than most. These factors contribute to the 20/80 rule, which is the notion that 20 percent of a patient population use up 80 percent of its resources.

Telemedicine is poised to curb those expenses and from a business perspective the momentum is growing exponentially. According to Vo, the global telemedicine market will exceed $27 billion by 2016 — representing 300 percent growth since 2010.

Other findings presented at the show suggest that as many as 80 percent of examinations actually require zero physical content. Leveraging the cost savings implicit in that figure is something everyone in health care is thinking about.

MWA also kicked off with a memorable plenary session, the highlight of which consisted of unveiling some interesting statistics about what 1,000 Texans want from their health care.

It will be interesting to see in what direction MWA goes in the coming years. Most likely the gathering will draw increasingly larger crowds, but hopefully that won't come at the expense of the engaging and collaborative atmosphere — because as of now that atmosphere is what sets this show apart from the others.

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