We have prepared this toolkit to provide you with the resources you need as you prepare to ask your employer to support your decision to attend ACE. This Justification Toolkit includes:
- Email template—Use this editable template to create the perfect letter to send to your supervisor or manager about ACE.
- Cost Analysis Worksheet—This worksheet will help you outline the cost to attend ACE, from travel to registration.
- ACE 2013 Online Brochure—Print out a copy of this brochure and provide it to your employer to outline the value of attending ACE, from networking opportunities to can’t-miss education. Brochure will be updated regularly.
- Explanation of benefits—Use the below list of talking points when speaking to your manager or supervisor about attending the annual convention.
Explain How You (And They) Can Benefit
Here are some things you might want to consider as you’re working on justifying to your employer the importance of attending AHDI’s Annual Convention & Expo (ACE 2013):
- Focus on what you will specifically bring back to the organization as return for the investment.
- Offer to prepare and deliver a short presentation and Q&A to share what you learned. That way others in your department will benefit from your attending the convention, too.
- If you are working to obtain or maintain your CMT credential, remind your supervisor that this is a great way to earn quality CECs in one location, which may be less expensive and less time consuming than registering for individual courses and webinars.
- Be ready with a plan that shows who will cover for you while you are attending the convention.
- Be sure to check out the registration page where all the various rates are listed to see if you qualify for any of the lower rates or discounts.
Quantifying the Benefits
Although you might understand the benefits of attending ACE, your manager may not. Therefore, to be most effective in justifying the convention, you need to clearly articulate the connection between your organization's knowledge requirements and the specific needs and sessions that meet those needs. DO NOT assume that your manager will be able to automatically make those distinctions.
Here are some items and examples you might want to include when quantifying the benefits:
Networking Benefits—This convention will allow [specific team members] to network with other professionals and vendors in the industry. We will be able to browse and discuss valuable new resources and educational products and take the pulse on myriad industry topics, such as electronic health records, speech recognition, evolving career paths, and best practices. We will hear success stories, practical solutions for problems we, too, may face, and new ideas for marketing and overcoming obstacles.
Teambuilding (if sending a big part of your group)—This convention will help build our team, providing a forum for team members to discuss tools, technologies, and processes and how we might apply them in our company to improve our information products, workflow, and processes.
Current Tools—This convention will highlight some the current tools and software we use and offer opportunities to become more experienced users of these products as well as learn about new updates and features.
Future Tools Exploration—This conference will showcase new tools we may be interested in exploring and offer the opportunity to speak with representatives about the benefits available. This information could be instrumental in helping us determine if incorporating these tools into our practice could result in reducing turn-around times and errors, therefore improving quality and efficiency.
Current Technologies—Experts will be on hand to discuss the most popular technologies being used in the industry today, including the electronic health record and speech recognition technology. This is an opportunity for us to keep on top of the advances being made and ensure that we are aware of how these technologies can affect our everyday practice.