80% of HEALTHCON attendees have their employer cover the registration cost and travel costs. We want to help you get to HEALTHCON and prove the value to your employer.

How to Convince Your Boss

Anyone who's been to HEALTHCON will tell you it's an incredible, career enhancing experience. But when you ask your employer to pick up the tab, we know you have to make a bold case for attending.

So here's a bit of advice on getting your manager or business decision maker to send you to HEALTHCON: It’s not about you. It's about how you AND the entire team - in fact, your company - will benefit from the information and insights you'll gain.

By leveraging the steps below, we feel confident you can make a game plan, create your story and leverage your communication skills.

Step 1Be Prepared

Review the full HEALTHCON 2018 agenda with over 90 sessions and map out your customized conference agenda. HEALTHCON offers tracks across a variety of topics and disciplines, so you can choose a mix of sessions that benefit you personally and some that benefit your organization. You might even plan to show your manager the sessions and let them choose a few sessions they would like you to attend.
Download this persuasive letter for your boss. Include a few of the sessions you’d like to attend, and name-drop some speakers.
Ready your argument that attending HEALTHCON will make you a bigger asset to your company.

Step 2Pick the Right Time to Talk About It

Lay the groundwork with the letter, then schedule a brief meeting to state your case in person.
Explain the ROI on sending you to the event.
Tell your manager you’ll bring back best practices from leading experts, thought leaders and organizations including the American Medical Association, Optum, AAPC, Healthicity, and many more.
Talk about why you are choosing the sessions you want to attend and how the skills will complement your capabilities and those of the organization.
Tell your manager HEALTHCON packs a full year’s worth of value into just 4 days including access to the largest collection of Healthcare business and coding experts in the industry.
Walk through the conference website to review the agenda and speaker lineup, adding credibility and transparency to your request.
Explain that you will take accountability and return ready to present your findings to the team and how they can be implemented into your current work processes.

Step 3Respond to objections and questions with Confidence and Detail

You probably already know the questions or objections your boss will have, impress your boss with your communication skills by being prepared to answer the expected AND unexpected.
Objection: "It's too expensive."

Your response: "This isn’t just a four-day conference; I see it as an investment. The learnings can have real impact on our organization’s bottom line. I’ll capture detailed notes from every session, so our whole team can learn along with me. And HEALTHCON offers group and corporate discounts and discounted lodging."
Objection: "You can’t be away from the office for five days."

Your response: "I might be away from the office, but I will still be working when I can. Wi-Fi will be available, and the schedule allows me to move between tracks and sessions. I’ll be able to stay connected at the same time I’m gathering information and best practices that will take our team’s work to the next level."
Objection: "How do I know this a credible conference and a good use of your time?"

Your response: HEALTHCON is AAPC’s annual national conference and this year is the 26th year in existence. Few conferences have been around that long and AAPC is the world’s largest training and credentialing organization for the business of healthcare, at over 175,000 members.

Quotes to use as evidence/support:

“HEALTHCON has helped me collect the knowledge, develop a network and gain the confidence to grow my career and expand my credentials. I started as a billing clerk, but after joining AAPC and attending HEALTHCON each year, I've been able to advance through to administration. I'll definitely continue to come back year-after-year!”

Judy W.

COC, CPC, CPCO, CPC-P, CPB, CPPM, CPC-I, CANPC
Virginia Beach, VA

“We sent one of my coding leads, and she recently uncovered $687,000 in missed charges. She then re-coded another several thousand more. I'd say it was worth it! ”

Pam B.

COC, CPC
South Berwick, ME

“The AAPC National Conference has helped me to refresh, re-educate, and reinforce coding and compliance rules and regulations that apply to my area of expertise. It was an enjoyable way to keep updated and to obtain a wealth of knowledge in such a short amount of time! ”

Renee B.

CPC

Your closing argument:

"When I get back from the conference, I’ll schedule a download session with you and the team. I’ll present my notes and speaker handouts from all the sessions I attended. I’ll recommend new ideas for our processes, technology and Web design. I’ll show you all the great resource material I picked up in the Exhibit Hall from vendors who can save us money and grow our profits. Sending me to the conference means elevating our whole team."