Checking on the conventions coming to Vegas over the next couple weeks something stood out.  I am struck by how many of them are focused on some aspect of health care. (I have included the veterinarian convention not to bulk the list but because of my cat obsession.) Unlike bankers who took bailout money from the taxpayers and students saving money for college,  President Obama has yet to issue an injunction against doctors holding conventions in Vegas. Thus it appears from this list to still be okay for medical professionals to put the nations’ health care dollars into holding a convention in Vegas. Goody.

But if you actually go to the sites for some of these conferences and look at the schedules of indecipherable jargon filled seminar titles, you will quickly understand why Vegas tourism officials strongly believe that serious work is done at Vegas conventions. One course for example on bringing the latest knowledge gleaned from doctors who practice in war zones to civilian emergency room doctors notes:

“Topics discussed will include aeromedical evacuation, prehospital airway management, hemostatic resuscitation, wound management, fluid and blood component therapy, advanced vascular access, new threats in disaster medicine, and emergency ultrasound and medical imaging.”

If you think about it, this is really important knowledge to share. Vegas is not (just) an excuse for a party when it comes to professional gatherings but rather a location where serious business can take place and crucial information can be exchanged by day at fully geared-up, world class convention facilities while the unique Vegas oriented bonding opportunities still comes by night.

Vegas is a highly price competitive convention town. This is perhaps the point most often missed when people knock conventions in Vegas. We are in general a cheaper place to hold a convention than other cities.  For example, our facilities tend to be cheaper than San Francisco where one convention moved last year to avoid the media glare of meeting in Vegas. Still, money is required to hold conventions, and it is obvious health care oriented businesses do not seem to be hurting enough to be slacking on the Vegas conventions.

This is great for Vegas. Thousands of well compensated medical professionals in town for a couple weeks will be a boon to the Vegas economy that the Strip needs now. I have heard no discussion of the impact proposed health care reforms could have on these sorts of conventions. I assume professionals still must gather to exchange information. But I wonder about the future of Vegas as the location with a public focus on health care costs while Sin City, unfairly, remains the target of politicians who see every dollar spent here as one wasted rather than going to casino workers and others in a city that has worked hard to compete and earn this business:

American College of Healthcare Executives at The Mirage

American Society for Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition, Inc. – 2010 Clinical Nutrition Week Conference at Las Vegas Hilton

Nevada Psychiatric Association – 15th Annual Psychopharmacology Update at South Point

GE Healthcare – CAMS Leadership Staff Meeting at Venetian

American College of Addictionology & Compulsive Disorders – Certified Addictionologist Program at Golden Nugget

Advanced Medical Technology Association Reimbursement Seminars at Westin

Western Veterinary Conference at Mandalay Bay

Association of Collegiate Educators in Radiologic Technology 2010 Annual Conference at Orleans

American Academy of Emergency Medicine at Caesars Palace

Disease Management Trends and Wellness at Caesars Palace

Institute for Advanced Medical Education at  Mandalay Bay

Physicians Practice AIM Conference at Planet Hollywood

(photo: Sarah Gerke)