The 2008 V.B.A. Winter Meeting

Join us for a special expanded presentation of our very popular annual Winter Meeting on Friday, February 8th, 2008. This year we will have three parallel sessions from 9am to 4pm with a Joint Commission surveyor, a presenter from ECRI, and an instructor from Sonora Medical Systems, Inc. for a service school. The registration fee includes lunch and breaks, hotel rooms are available at a discounted rate as well as a limited number of discounted lift tickets. Join us in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains for a fantastic day of learning and stay for a relaxing weekend of skiing on the slopes or being pampered in the spa.

Target Audience: Biomedical and Plant Maintenance department managers, Risk Managers, Joint Commission coordinators, Patient Safety Officers, Supervisors, and Biomedical Technicians interested in increasing their knowledge and effectiveness in dealing with the Joint Commission national patient safety goals, survey processes, effectively handling Incident Investigations, and technical knowledge .

  When:

Friday - February 8th, 2008

registration: 8:30am

sessions: 9:00am to 4:00pm

  Location:

Wintergreen Ski Resort

www.wintergreenresort.com

800-611-6888

  Contact:

Greg Mika

434-982-7758

  Registration:

Due to the popularity of this program, we are requiring pre-registration to assure we can accommodate everyone. Please RSVP by Friday, February 1st.
 

• By Mail: Please download the registration form: (pdf) or (word)
• By Fax: Fax registration form to: 434-982-7096
• On Line: Payment accepted via credit card through PayPal.
• On Site: Check or cash payment accepted from pre-registered attendees.

  Program Sessions

    JCAHO

Joseph Flannery, MS, MHA. will be a featured speaker once again. He will discuss general findings from the surveys, performance improvement processes, indicator monitoring, and experiences with the new unannounced inspections. This class is especially relevant to anyone who may experience a Joint Commission inspection in the next 12 months, since we now have no idea exactly when that will be. Joe has years of survey experiences and will enhance his formal presentation with anecdotes from his survey experiences. He will have just completed Annual Surveyor Training at The Joint Commission Headquarters in Chicago before the meeting date.

    ECRI

Albert de Richemond, M.S., P.E. Mr. de Richemond, the Associate Director of the Accident & Forensic Investigation Group will discuss Handling of Adverse Incidents, Accident Investigations, and Recent Case Reports. He attended graduate school at Virginia Tech. His duties include assisting in managing the Accident and Forensic Investigations Group, and investigating medical device failures and fires caused by medical devices in the critical care and surgical settings. He also writes for Health Devices and other ECRI publications.

    Ultrasound

Nicholas J. Mesagno II, B.S.E.E.T is the Regional Sales Manager for Sonora Medical Systems. He has 19 years of diagnostic ultrasound imaging experience. He initially worked 10 years for Acuson/Siemens Corp. as a Field Service Engineer. For the last 9 years he has been working for Sonora Medical Systems. His duties have been developing ultrasound probe repairs, manufacturing and process engineering, reverse engineering, ultrasound system training and technical support.

Ultrasound Basics for the Biomed
In this one-day session, you will learn of the basic design architecture and characteristics of modern diagnostic ultrasound systems and transducers. The attendee will receive training on:

• Common terminology and clinical applications of ultrasound.
• The need and rationale for evidence based quality assurance.
• Techniques for integrating QA into maintenance activities.
• Methods and tools for maintaining ultrasound systems, and the frequency of maintenance for ultrasound systems in general.

  Costs and Fees:

• Meeting Registration:
  
  VBA Members: $100.00
  Non Members: $130.00
  
  
• Wintergreen Accomodations:
  
  Studio Rooms: $142/night
  Lodge Rooms: $151/night
  2 Bedroom Condo: $239/night
  3 Bedroom Condo: $338/night
  5 Bedroom COndo: $599/night
  reservation form (pdf)
  
  
• Lift Tickets:
  
  Thursday: $35.00
  Friday: $35.00
  Saturday: $66.00