The IDN Summit & Expo is truly a one-of-a-kind event. An extraordinary venue that promotes high quality buyer-seller interfaces through a unique "reverse" expo, while deeply exploring opportunities for industry collaboration for improved efficiencies.

The event is being held at the Omni Champions Gate Resort, Orlando, FL, May 28-30, 2008.

This year's IDN Summit & Expo event kicks off with a golf tournament and team building exercises sure to fuel the fire for collaborative team spirited discussions necessary for industry transformation.
Following the opening recreational events, the event moves into breakout education sessions focused on industry and career advancements, designed to meet the specific needs of supplier and health system attendees. A highlight of the hospital and health system sessions will be NCI Talk, a live talk show hosted by veteran talk show host Wally Kennedy titled "Understanding the Mind of the Clinician," focused on understanding the needs of physicians and clinical leaders. This show will provide attendees with the unique opportunity to better understand the mind of the physician and clinician to establish more fruitful relationships. Among the faculty for this program will be physicians and clinical leaders and an ex-device manufacturer executive willing to share their insights on communication methods for building collaborative physician relationships.

Immediately after NCI Talk, Dr. Gary Kaplan, CEO of Virginia Mason Medical Center will deliver a keynote address titled "Proven Methods for Hospitals Becoming Defect Free," Dr Kaplan's presentation will focus on the work over the past 6 years at Virginia Mason Medical Center since the Virginia Mason Production System (Toyota Production System applied to health care) was declared the management method for the entire health system. Areas of emphasis will include the initial discovery and decision-making process leading to adoption of these methods, healthcare change management challenges, deployment, education and training strategies, barriers to success, and both project specific and aggregate results.

While the hospital and health system attendees are in session, supplier attendees will experience Greg Firestone, the author of Swimming with the Supertankers, facilitate an impromptu discussion with several of his book's provider interviewees, with the goal of providing attendees with a simple, straightforward road map on how to differentiate oneself in the eyes of the customer. Throughout the discussions, Greg will promote audience participation to elicit complete and utmost transparency.

The general session kicks off with General Peter Pace, USMC, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who will deliver a keynote address titled "Leadership-Up and Down". Gen. Peter Pace, USMC (Ret.), will bring to bear his years as a Marine and as a military leader the notion of answering up and down-leading and acting with a moral compass. This keynote address is followed by two sessions titled "The Call for Reengineering Healthcare's Supply Chain" and "Healthcare's Moment of Truth," both focused on driving transparency within healthcare's supply chain.

Upon conclusion of the education sessions hospital systems will man booths in an exhibit hall, where supplier attendees will find a large quantity of 10x10 booths hosted by health system purchase decision makers from throughout the United States. In addition, the six national GPOs will close out the event by hosting hospitality suites for all attendees to visit.

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