Before I post some real goodies this afternoon or tomorrow (it's coming, Bonnie!), I thought I'd unload some of my thoughts from the Users' Conference.

This was perhaps the most overwhelming of the UCs I've done. I was in more classes than usual, so it meant much less downtime and no time to check out the other speakers (I am particularly bummed that I missed Susanne Madden's class, as it coincided with one of my topics). I thought my new courses on Chronic Disease Management and, particularly, Developing Patient Educational Materials went well - see below for why.

Before I describe that, though - thank you to all the folks I got to spend time with! Most of you read this blog and many of you have commented and your feedback is invaluable.

What did I learn this year? I learned that many pediatric practices are starting to look at their practices differently. They are ready to make changes they'd have never considered ten years ago or even a year ago. They are interested in "step by step instructions" or the description of how another pediatric practice did XYZ or the development of a process to make a change.

Like what? Well, insurance negotiations are old hat for some of our clients, but that class is still full for me every year. However, I didn't get a single objection this year. I've taught insurance negotiation classes a lot and I always get someone saying that it can't be done, the payers won't listen, etc., etc. But not this year. Folks took notes and even explained how they'd already started some of the steps.

In the CDM, Patient Recall Strategies, and Patient Education classes, too - no objections. Usually, someone says, "Those Welcome Kits would cost a fortune and patients would always lose them." Or suggest that their patients can't read. Or that there is no money in well visits. But not this year. Folks soaked it up.

Which leads to the second thing I learned - there is a massive upswell of clinical interest among our clients. I think the recent focus on the Medical Home and P4P has combined with enough increased income that the docs are rolling out the clinical plans they have had gathering dust in their drawers for the last 10 years. I think there is a real consulting opportunity for someone to go from practice to practice to instill Chronic Disease Management programs for $$.

Enough for now. I'm sure I learned plenty more than the above and it will strike me somewhere in the middle of my vacation later this week of course.