HCB News: Are there certain initiatives or goals you will be announcing at the conference?
SK: We recently removed the cost of membership to our organization to help draw more members. This year we hope to take that a step further and get those members more involved. We've recently focused on creating a board of directors, in addition to the officer group, as a way to give more professionals an extra avenue for dialogue, on a scale that goes beyond their employers' walls. It also helps the NCBA continue to grow and develop as an organization by leveraging a wider range of skills to help accomplish our goals.

HCB News: For first time attendees, what advice would you offer to make sure they make the most of their time?
SK: Be involved. It's easy to sign up and be called a member, we've removed as many barriers to that as we could. While just showing up can certainly be beneficial, members will get more value out of the organization by asking questions and participating in discussions. There is so much knowledge and experience in our organization's membership, and we should do everything we can to learn from it, as well as contribute to it. And the best way to do that is just to get involved.

To build of off 'being involved' - get to know the people. Techs, managers, directors, vendors, and more attend our meetings. Clinical engineering touches so many aspects of healthcare operations, and we are lucky to see many of them represented in the organization. Networking, talking, and sharing with others gives you a great perspective on where you stand in your field, where your organization stands in the market, and even where the market stands as a whole. The amount of valuable information that members can bring back to their organizations from networking alone is incredible.

In addition to networking, but deserving it's own mention, is collaborating. It's great to see when a tech or manager at one facility is having trouble addressing a certain issue, and someone from another hospital or group can help them find a solution based on past experiences. The sense of competition does not exist between organizations with our group, because we all realize that at the end of the day it is the patient and their health and safety that truly matter.

HCB News: Can you tell us anything about your keynote speakers and what subjects they will address?
SK: We have been fortunate to have a representative from The Joint Commission give a keynote address for many years now. While the specific topics shift from conference to conference, and I'm excited to see what this year's keynote has in store, I sense that the common theme among them is that - we understand that we're doing good, but how do we do great? What's the next step in becoming a true foundation for the well-being of our patients while maintaining the success of our individual employers? How do we help our organizations move to a culture of high reliability and safety?

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