Planning & Review of AHLA's 2020 AMC Conference

From AHLA's 2020 Academic Medical Centers and Teaching Hospitals Institute in Arlington, VA, Craig Hunter, Senior Vice President, Coker Group speaks to Heather Pierce, Senior Director, Science Policy and Regulatory Counsel, Association of American Medical Colleges, and Kristen Rosati, Partner, Coppersmith Brockelman PLC about planning the AMC conference, some of the topics covered, how to speak at AHLA conferences or get involved with Practice Groups, and how to purchase the audio of the recently completed conference. Sponsored by Coker Group.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:11

This is Craig Hunter, senior Vice President with the Coker Group, and I'm here today as the sponsor for the podcast with the A H L A Academic Medical Centers and Teaching Hospitals Institute, which we will refer to from this point forward as the A M C Institute with Heather Pierce, chair of the A M C Institute Program. And Heather is the Senior Director for Science Policy and Regulatory Council with the Association of American Medical Colleges, A A M C here in dc. And Kristen Rosati, partner with Coppersmith Brockleman, a law firm in Phoenix, who has previously served as president of A H L A and is also on the planning committee for the conference. Ladies, how are you today?

Speaker 2: 0:55

Just great. Thank you so much for having us today.

Speaker 1: 0:57

Absolutely. We're excited to have you. Uh, let's start with how long each of you have been affiliated with A H L A, your history and what area do you spend the majority of your time with for your organizations at this time? Kristen, let's start with you. Sure.

Speaker 2: 1:13

So I have been a member of H L A since 1998 when I first became a healthcare lawyer, and it's just been a great journey. I got involved in leadership through the Health Information and Technology Practice Group, became chair of that and then was, um, asked to serve on the board of directors and then was president of the association. I think it was the 2013 to 2014, um, year. Great. Um, since then I've also, I've continued to be active in program planning through the A M C Institute and other activities for H L A.

Speaker 1: 1:51

Great. And tell us a little bit about what area of focus you have for your practice.

Speaker 2: 1:56

Sure. What I focus on is big data in a variety of circumstances. Um, as you probably are aware, data is really key to making things work in academic medical centers and hospital systems in the entire healthcare industry right now. And so what I focus a lot of work on is, um, helping clients put together big data sharing collaborations, uh, to support health information exchanges, to support collaborative care environments, accountable care organizations, and clinically integrated networks. I also do a lot of work in the research community. Awesome. Um, so I'm, uh, active in putting together research collaborations and focusing on the, the data sharing aspects of that. And one of the things that is developing right now that's very exciting, of course, is artificial intelligence in the application in healthcare. So I've been working on a fair number of, uh, deals involving development of artificial intelligence, which of course uses data and a lot of it, so I'm spending a lot of my time around data these days. That's

Speaker 1: 2:56

Great, Heather?

Speaker 3: 2:57

Yes. Um,

Speaker 4: 2:58

Thanks for having us today. I've been involved with a H L A for, um, a little over 15 years, and primarily in the context of the AMC Institute, which is now called the UHC Institute previous name, uh, as a, as a attendee and speaker and program committee member, and now the program committee chair. And, uh, in my, in my own practice, so I act as regulatory council to an association that has institutional members, academic medical centers, medical schools, and teaching hospitals. And I focus on the issues of regulation of science and research, uh, that takes place at those institutions. Uh, I also focus my practice on the interaction between industry and academia in the area of conflicts of interest, uh, as well and principle partnerships, relationships for, uh, for research. And, uh, I'm also spending a lot of time in data of different side of data, the issues related to data sharing, um, open science and, and open access and how that affects academic, uh, members as they move forward with their science. That's

Speaker 1: 4:14

Great. That's great. Well, I appreciate both you taking time, Heather, as program chair for the conference. How did the committee arrive at the key conference sections and what are the specific program goals for the conference?

Speaker 4: 4:27

Well, this committee has actually been working together in, with very few changes over the last couple of years. And so we've had an opportunity to build on previous years successes and look for areas for improvement. And this year we decided to do something a a little bit different and to divide up the plenary sessions across the meeting into three different areas into attached to each one, one of the tripartite mission areas of an academic medical center that does research the education of medical trainees and clinical care. And so we started this morning with an opening session on the bankruptcy of Hahneman Hospital, looking at the education of, of medical students will be moving this afternoon onto a, the clinical care and how, how, how big data interacts with that. And then tomorrow we'll be working on the research plenary and addressing the areas of, uh, the area of undue foreign government influence in US federally funded research of three pretty hot topics.

Speaker 1: 5:38

Absolutely. That influences out there right now, isn't it? That's

Speaker 4: 5:42

Right. So we've also tried to do something else that's new. We always have been known at this institute for really interesting in-depth, cutting edge concurrent sessions that allow the attendees to, to look into aspects of their practice. That can be very helpful. We've created a set of concurrent sessions that follow each of these plenaries that pull on different strings, uh, for the, for the plenary sessions, and allow people to do a deep dive into related, uh, related aspects. So for one example this morning we talked about the closure of the hahneman mm-hmm.<affirmative> Hospital and, and its effects on patients and faculty and the community and medical students and residents. Immediately after that, there were three separate sessions, one, looking at contracting and affiliation agreements and how to think about bankruptcy and possible insolvency in the future. Another session on the Centers for Medicaid Medicare services rules about when resident medical residents are displaced, uh, through closure or other serious incidents at a hospital. And a third session on, on legal ethics and attorney client work product in the context of crisis communications. Very good. So it's a new, it's a new model for this. Um, I think it's been well received so far. We're just getting started.

Speaker 1: 7:06

Yeah. Everything I've heard so far is, uh, what excitement and, uh, and enthusiastic response from the crowd, so that's great. Kristen, I know when you and I talked earlier, you were very excited about the, the, the structure this time. Um, can you tell us what made you so enthusiastic about

Speaker 2: 7:23

It? Well, I think what, uh, Heather has just described is right on that it, the way we've structured it by having a plenary session that talks about the policy issues, essentially involved in really hot topics for the A M C community, followed by really detailed in-depth advanced breakout sessions is a great way to organize this conference. And, uh, one example and one I'm particularly excited about is the big data and genomics track that we've created. So this afternoon we're having a plenary session with three top-notch academics to talk about one of the really difficult public policy issues we're facing now, which is how to balance the public good of using data in a lot of it for research balanced against, um, individual privacy rights and how you arrive at the appropriate public policy for those issues. And these three academics are going to be talking about that from very different perspectives. We have a top-notch statistician who's an expert in data anonymization and re-identification and preventing re-identification of people. We have a law professor talking about what do we do about the present situation, what the appropriate legal response is, and then we have, um, a medical academic talking about open science and why it is so important to free the data, um, so to speak, but in a way that's very respectful for, for individuals. So that point recess is data anonymization of fallacy, um, and essentially what do we do about it?

Speaker 1: 8:56

Yeah, very neat. With all of the cybersecurity, and I know both of you have touched on the technology side, security issues very, very prevalent and very big right

Speaker 2: 9:05

Now, so. Oh, sure. Yeah. And then we have three breakout sessions coming out of that plenary, which I think are going to be very advanced, good topics for people to become familiar with. Uh, one would be, uh, using genomics in clinical care. That's obviously very hot right now as science is discovering more and more key between people's genetics and the appropriate way to treat them. Genomics and medical care is a very hot topic. Then we're also having a breakout session on genomics and clinical trials, the very particular advanced issues that come out of doing clinical trials or other research, uh, with individuals genetic information, which frankly is most research these days. And then we have a breakout session that I'm moderating that talks about doing deals in the big data and genomic era where we're going to have a very practical session on how academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, um, and hospitals in general are doing a lot of deals these days, sometimes with commercial entities that involve lots of data and gen ed material, and how you protect both your institution and your patients in structuring those deals.

Speaker 1: 10:13

It's amazing. I was with a client earlier this week, and I won't tell you where, but he is now becoming part of a study for a free genomic testing in the community for 10,000 individuals. So they're gonna be able to provide that locally and then obviously try to build off of that. So it is becoming a, a very big component of potential care downstream. So very exciting. Uh, from that side, what are some of the other things, specifically as you come from Phoenix and to this conference or to other a H L A conferences in particular that you enjoy, uh, with this organization?

Speaker 2: 10:52

I'll just go first, and Heather, I'll turn it back over to you. Um, I think one of the fabulous things about attending HLA conferences is the networking. Um, I try to convince, uh, people how valuable it is to actually come to conference in person because there's nothing like getting to people to know people in person. Having dinner and lunch and face-to-face conversations with people is really important. So this networking, you know, from, for, from the perspective of a private attorney, you get to actually meet clients. Um, I spend lots of my time on phone and email and really coming to HLA conferences. The is almost the only time I get to meet people. And I have this wide network of friends that I, I've developed over the years by coming to HLA conferences. So I really recommend people actually come physically to conferences. You'll really, really enjoy it. That's

Speaker 1: 11:45

Correct.

Speaker 4: 11:45

I absolutely agree, Kristen, that there's so much valuable material that are

Speaker 2: 11:50

Provided

Speaker 4: 11:51

By the speakers. ALA has said high standards for the types of materials that must be provided by speakers in order to, to speak at these sessions and to be, especially to be invited back at future conferences that go far beyond just the PowerPoint presentation. Right? So there will be, there's access to those kinds of information, but it's, um, the added gloss of not just what the speakers say in the room, but then the conversations that happen in the hallway on the way, on the way out at meals and receptions. Um, the breakfast before and coffee is really where those rich connections are made. Uh, like Kristen, their people that I feel like I know really well that I only see here every year. And there's also a lot of new faces. I I think that for, for lawyers who represent academic medicine, there is not another gathering like this. And so it makes it very focused, very concentrated. And it also, it, it also means that you have something in, you have something in common with any other person here, right? Whether it's a type of client or a type of issue that makes the conversation much, much easier. So I think it's, uh, fully agree that's, uh, a real benefit.

Speaker 1: 13:09

Good. And you brought this up and I'm, I'll just ask for the benefit of listeners. What if there's somebody that is relatively new in the academic setting, but would like to apply to speak, uh, to be able to do that? What, how does that process work since both of you served on the committee, the selection committee? How does that work?

Speaker 4: 13:28

Well, there's a call for proposals, uh, every, every year that, that every anyone is welcome to join. Um, at the same time, the program committee works very hard to, uh, not just to review what comes in, but also to look at the whole landscape and think, you know, if you only went to one conference mm-hmm.<affirmative> this year, and this was the only thing you, you did for your, your professional development related to academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, what are the issues that if we didn't cover here would be a real hole? And then create those pieces so that the program as a whole has not only terrific individual sessions, but provides a real spectrum of information. That's right. So, and with that, we're always looking for new voices, new expertise, new new speakers. So in addition to the call for proposals, which we encourage everyone to do, reaching out a H l a, any of the program committee members and just saying, I wanna get involved, I wanna, I wanna learn more, I'd love to, I'd love to speak. We always wanna hear from new, new voices and have found ways to incorporate lots of, lots of new and very experienced

Speaker 1: 14:43

Speakers. Yeah, it's been my experience that those calls for speakers typically go out six to nine months prior to the program. Uh, gives everybody time to process and gives the committee time to respond. Uh, but I would absolutely encourage it. I think it's a tremendous organization and it's a great way, uh, a number of the sessions are going to, to, uh, be panels, uh, for discussion. And then others are gonna be formal presentations of specific case study scenario or opportunities that would be involved in, uh, around the organization.

Speaker 4: 15:17

Most of the sessions pair two lawyers or two speakers. There are some speakers that aren't, aren't lawyers here who have a specific expertise. Uh, and that pairing really, the program committee works very hard to make sure those two perspectives are very different, right. What sector do they come from? What area of the country, what types of clients do they have? And so for the vast majority of sessions, that dynamic is also adds another layer, which can be really helpful. And I think HLA has been doing that for a long time, very successfully. Now think Christian.

Speaker 2: 15:52

Oh, sure. Absolutely. And you know, one of the other things I wanna mention too, for the listeners is that there's a lot of opportunity to get involved in speaking opportunities through the practice groups, right? Um, there's an academic medical center teaching hospitals practice group, and then there's practice groups for different segments of the industry and for different topics like the health information technology practice group that I used to be, um, I'm still a member, but I used to lead. And that's a great way, especially if you don't have a lot of speaking experience yet to get that experience because the practice groups solicit ideas for webinars. So if there's a particularly interesting topic that you've been working on at your law firm or at your institution that you wanna share with people, um, contact the practice group leaders and ask if they're interested in doing a webinar on that.

Speaker 1: 16:41

Practice groups are very, very, uh, instrumental, I think is part of this organization. I think it really does added a little more depth to it and a little more opportunity for that networking to take place. But yet it's specific to your area of expertise, or if you wanna find out if I might like another area to participate and be involved in that as well. Uh, Heather, just outta curiosity, if somebody wasn't able to attend, how would they be able to actually get the information or even copies of the session if they so desired?

Speaker 4: 17:10

Absolutely. I've been impressed with how easy eh, H l A has made it to get materials after, after the fact. So as, as Kristen said, there's no alternative to being here in in person that is exactly the same thing. But a H L A has made it easy to get the materials available, um, on the h l A website. After this conference, not only will individuals be able to purchase the entire package of all the materials and PowerPoint slides, but also audio recordings from every session, the plenaries and all the concurrent sessions. So that'll be available fairly shortly on the A H L A website, uh, and will for, uh, under a hundred dollars, which is a terrific deal. It sure

Speaker 1: 17:56

Is. That is a great deal. That's tremendous when you look at the, the depth of the material and, uh, how, uh, easy it's to, to access. Well, I appreciate both of you taking time for us with, uh, the podcast today for a H L A and Coca Group. In closing, thoughts for either of you as we wrap up the podcast?

Speaker 4: 18:17

Well, I would say, Craig, this is an exciting time. It's always an exciting time in health law, and I am particularly biased towards the issues that affect academic medical centers and teaching hospitals. We were noting last night that though we developed these three plenary sessions six to eight months ago, thinking they would probably be still relevant in the last week, there has been a new filing in the bankruptcy case in the Hahnemann, uh, case, which we thought would be done a new unsealed indictment, uh, just in the last two days relating to foreign influence that we'll be talking about, and six new guidance documents in genomic medicine finalized by the FDA just yesterday. So we were, we were noting that it was almost as if the planning committee got together for the first time last night and said, what are the three biggest things happening right now? And then let's figure out how we could, uh, get some speakers to come tomorrow and talk about it. And that's, as a, uh, program committee member that is a a, feels like a slam dunk.

Speaker 2: 19:21

That's right. Yeah. And I think the only thing I wanna end with is I sure hope that we see everybody here in person next year. Um, it will be again in DC um, at about the same time period. Um, and, uh, we promise to have equally good content, um, cutting edge in advance. So please, please join us next year.

Speaker 1: 19:42

Well both thank you both very, very much and please join us and we'll, uh, say goodbye for now from the A H L A Academic Medical Centers and Teaching Hospitals Institute in dc.

Speaker 2: 19:55

Thank you.

Speaker 4: 19:56

Thanks.