Many physicians in our communities are interested in attending health tech and industry conferences to stay up to date with what’s coming down the pipeline in digital health, AI, and other developing healthcare solutions and technology. As the end users for many health tech solutions and as experts amongst the most qualified to know what is needed in the space, physicians can play a valuable role in this space as well, often functioning as consultants, startup advisors, board members, angel investors or venture capitalists, or taking nonclinical or clinical positions with companies in these spaces. It’s also a great way for entrepreneurs to stay abreast of what competitors are emerging in the marketplace that may compete against their current product, or gain insights for a solution they hope to build. Whether you’re going to your first (or tenth!) health tech conference, it’s important to be intentional in your approach to maximizing both educational and networking opportunities, as these conferences can be huge and overwhelming without a plan. Below, we cover insights from our physician community on how to prepare for your first health tech conference, as well as tips for attending and networking.
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Why should physicians consider attending a health tech conference?
Attending a health health conference can provide numerous benefits for physicians in different practice environments and with different career goals or interests. These include:
Staying up to date on innovation: Health tech conferences often feature some amazing speakers who are leading innovation and change in the industry. These talks can give doctors a great idea of what steps are being taken for the future of healthcare. Walking around exhibit halls can also help you get an idea of the latest emerging technologies for medical devices, AI healthcare solutions, software, and more.
Networking and brand building: People who attend health tech conferences tend to be industry leaders and experts, as well as other innovators in the space. If you’re an entrepreneurial physician, this can be a great way to network with like minded individuals, find your first consulting gig, or build your brand. This can also help you connect with potential partners or end users for a solution you are developing. Attending a health tech conference as a speaker for a workshop or talk could also add professional credentials for a future opportunity.
Finding new tools to optimize your work: Products featured at a health tech conference may be able to help reduce your and/or your team’s administrative burdens in the clinical setting. This can potentially help private practice physicians reduce overhead costs and streamline their practice, or can provide physicians with administrative roles at their institutions with potential solutions to increase efficiency and improve overall patient care.
Opportunities for career advancement, side gigs, or career shifts: You never know who you are going to run into when networking at a health tech conference. A seemingly random conversation with someone in the elevator or walking down the hallway may turn into an opportunity for a different position you hadn’t considered pursuing. If you frequent these conferences, you may find yourself running into the same people and becoming a part of an inner circle that will help you to pivot to a nonclinical career in the healthcare industry, add a side gig as a consultant or advisory board member, or open up doors to a career in venture capital or provide you with investment opportunities.
What health tech conference should I try to attend?
Most conferences have a specific focus, so which health tech conference is the best for you depends on what you want to get out of the experience. HLTH and its sister conference ViVE, for example, are great conferences for physicians interested in new innovations in health technology. This can be a great fit for physicians who are starting their own health tech startup, who want to get industry jobs, or want to develop consulting opportunities through something like our Physician Roundtables at HLTH program.
Other conferences may focus further in on niche topics such as:
Healthcare IT
Digital health
Medical device development and regulations
AI integration in medicine
Telemedicine
Practice Management
Depending on the conference, some of the scheduled talks may qualify for CME credits, which can not only help you meet your requirements for the year, but can help you secure funding for attending the conference if your employer offers a CME stipend and CME days.
Preparing to attend your first health tech conference
Making the most out of a health tech conference starts before you even arrive. Set aside some time to plan (and pack) ahead of the event so that you are prepared when you arrive, especially if you’re traveling to an out of state conference.
Registration and travel
Register early and keep an eye out for discounts: If you know you want to go to a conference, registering early can help you take advantage of early bird discounts. Many conferences raise their prices significantly the closer you get to the event. Check and see if we have any discounts through Physician Side Gigs.
Be careful about what you share when registering: When registering, be mindful about what you share. Your contact information provided with your registration may be widely accessible by participants or sponsors, distributed by the conference organizers, and even sold depending on the conference. Check the privacy settings and carefully choose what contact information you include in your registration and your conference profile. Many conferences have dedicated apps so that people can contact you without having access to your email address or phone number, so you can be more selective about who you give that information to.
Try and stay at the conference hotel if financially feasible. Many of the events will be at the conference hotel, and many of the attendees, especially the bigger names, will be staying there as their companies will have scooped up hotel rooms far in advance. This will best set you up for networking as well as decrease the urge not to go back out once you’ve returned to your room to change. Most conferences will offer room blocks for discounted rates.
Book your flights and hotel early. Piggybacking off the last point, these conferences are large and can overtake a city, pushing flight and hotel prices way up, or worse, resulting in limited availability. It is not unusual for room blocks to sell out or for prices to be 3-4x what they normally are if it’s a major conference. Most hotels have generous cancellation policies, so if this is true, when in doubt, snag the room when it’s available. It
Set yourself up for networking success
Research who will be there: Conferences will usually list not only sponsors of the event but who will be attending the event as well as vendors/exhibitors. Go through this list ahead of time and note any people you’re particularly interested in speaking with at the conference. You can also find this information on the conference app (see below).
Get yourself set up on the conference app far ahead of arriving at the conference. These days, there is usually a special networking app you have access to as part of the conference. People attending the conference for networking are often browsing the app weeks beforehand when the app opens. You want your profile to showcase you in the best light possible, and in accordance with the types of opportunities you are looking for. If you want to be considered for certain types of roles or opportunities, make sure that your profile highlights your attributes in that space. If you are coming with a company, make sure you spotlight your role and your company’s strengths. The app is a great way to network with people before, during, and after the conference. Like any networking platform, be cautious of who you interact with, and what information you provide them.
Reach out to schedule meetings: While health tech conferences offer plenty of organic opportunities to network, they are very busy for those that frequent these conferences to network with business partners, with many planning their agendas during their time there weeks to months ahead of time. If there are certain people you know you want to speak with, reach out before the event if you can find their profile through the conference or on LinkedIn and see if you can schedule some time to chat. With how packed conference schedules are and how many people are there, it may be harder than you think to cross paths if you aren’t intentional about timing, and schedules can fill up quickly.
Get business cards (or equivalent): You won’t be the only one overwhelmed while networking at the conference. There will be plenty of people who you’ll want to have deeper conversations with but will run out of time. Take some business cards with you and have them in your bag, ready to exchange. If you don’t want to carry physical cards, consider making a special contact card in your phone you can easily exchange via Bluetooth or text that only has the contact information you want to share, such as your work email and cell phone number. Scanning LinkedIn profiles is also popular.
Related PSG Perk: Moo allows you to make business cards and other advertising materials, as well as branded physical merchandise. They are visually appealing and memorable and can be great for giving out as you network. Get 25% off your first purchase through our referral link.
Check the schedule for networking events and try to find out about other satellite events hosted by others: Conferences often have kickoff events and/or evening mixers after the main conference. These events can be a great way to network. Check the conference website for the agenda and look for these types of events, then carve time to attend as many as possible. Additionally, keep your eye out on LinkedIn or with other companies you know are attending for special events that they are organizing outside of the planned conference events, often hosted in the evenings. Even if you’re tired, try to resist the urge to enjoy the spa or get room service after a long day at the conference. This is where some of the best networking happens, and where the highest concentration of people “in the know” and in influential positions will be spending their evenings. If you have a friend that’s more plugged into this space, see if they can score you an invite or bring you along to an event they’re planning on attending.
Plan out your time during the conference day
Read through all the presentations and decide which ones you want to attend live: These large conferences often have many simultaneous events you may be interested in, plus you also want to be networking. Don’t spend all of your time sitting in talks - remember that you will likely have access to many of them online later. Prioritize going to talks where you may want to meet or support the speaker, that you just don’t want to miss (there are often big celebrities at these!), or where other people you want to network with are likely also attending the talks.
Stay focused on your conference goals: It’s a good idea to set some goals for yourself for what you want to achieve at the conference ahead of time. Are you looking to find a job, to find investors, to learn about a particular niche? If you’re trying to decide between multiple concurring events, again, it will be helpful to go back to this list and see which event best takes you towards those goals. Some conferences can have some pretty big name keynote speakers that would be amazing to see. They may, however, not be talking about anything relevant to you, while a smaller event that really fits into your interests and may have greater networking potential is going on. Keep your eye on the prize, because there will be many shiny distractions.
Be mindful about accepting meetings from random people through the conference app: As a physician who works day-to-day with patient care, it’s highly likely you may be the target marketing audience for many of the vendors at a health tech conference. While it may make you feel special that someone wants to meet with you, pay attention to who they are and why they want to talk to you. Be wary of generic AI generated or copy and paste type messaging. When a sales rep with a company finds out you’re a physician, they may want to schedule time to chat with you as a potential buyer for their product. A startup may want you to invest in their company or want free advice about something they’re building. Don’t be afraid to politely say no to meetings that won’t be worth the opportunity cost of missing out on time in the exhibition hall networking or attending great talks.
Save time in your schedule to walk the exhibit hall: Many conferences will have an exhibitor hall where vendors can rent out booths to showcase their product or services. Review the conference schedule when you first get to the conference and try to carve out some time to walk the exhibit. Make note of the companies with booths that you are interested in and make a point to visit those and introduce yourself. This can be a great way to see what’s coming down the pipeline and to talk to founders and investors in emerging companies. It’s also just a great way to understand the vast scope of innovation out there. You may discover interests you didn’t even know you had.
Packing
Pack accordingly: The specific conference will dictate what you’ll want to wear but in general for health tech conferences, plan on wearing business casual attire. Tech conferences tend to be more cutting edge, so this is the place to sport that more trendy business outfit you’ve been waiting for an opportunity to wear. You’re going to be doing a lot of walking, so make sure you have comfortable shoes. Consider a second pair of more comfortable shoes to change in and out of throughout the day when walking long stretches as well. If you’re going to any of the evening events, the venue may be different than where the conference is held. Many people will wear the same outfit as they won’t have time to change between the main conference and the evening event, but if you’re planning a wardrobe change, look up the venue to see what attire to pack.
Related PSG Perk: We have special member perks and discounts with several shoe and sock brands to make you more comfortable during and after your conference.
Leave room in your suitcases for swag! Make sure when you’re packing that you leave room in your suitcase to bring back swag from the conference. Physicians used to medical conferences might pass on this tip thinking they have enough pens for their private practice for the next decade, but there can be some legitimately good swag at health tech conferences you’ll want to take home (think t-shirts, technology, YETIs, gift cards, video game consoles, and more).
Networking tips when at the health tech conference
Have your elevator pitch ready. If you’re attending because you’re hoping to network for a side gig or business you’re developing, make sure you have your brief and concise talking points ready for when someone inevitably asks you what you do and/or what your solution is. If you’re going just to learn, be approachable and ready to introduce yourself.
Get out of your comfort zone. You may be tempted to stick to a wallflower approach because you’re overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. If a colleague is going, you may want to tag along and follow them around without making your own connections. At an industry conference, everyone is trying to be heard, so you won’t make much progress in your goals if you don’t speak up. If you aren’t a natural networker, push yourself to participate more meaningfully. Networking is one of the true advantages of a conference you don’t want to waste. If you happen to find a group of people who you end up attending several different sessions with throughout the conference or someone who takes you under their wing and shows you around, even better!
Don’t be afraid to engage with big names. Just because someone is on a stage or a panel doesn’t make them unapproachable. If you could see some great benefit in chatting and networking with them, don’t be afraid to try! The worst thing they can do is tell you they unfortunately don’t have time to chat. You won’t know until you ask.
Have a system to jot down who you talked to and what you talked about. While not every connection you make at a health tech conference will be worth pursuing, several likely will be. Jot down in your event notebook (you’ll get one or ten as swag) or in a notes app on your phone who you’d love to have a follow up conversation with and what about. You will talk to so many people over the days that you’re at the conference, and will likely be surprised how much you forget about who someone is and what they talked about as all of your interactions get mixed up in your head. After a while, many of them will sound the same, so your notes will make sure the conversations and follow up don’t get lost. Also, it will give you some talking points to jog their memory about your conversation when you reach out (remember, they’re also talking to a lot of people and may not remember you!).
Make sure you get some rest, and make sure you eat/drink. Many of the evening events can go late into the night. While you shouldn’t pass up on this opportunity to get to know people more personally in a more casual setting (these can be the best connections), also make sure that you don’t burn yourself out too early in the conference such that you miss opportunities later or you aren’t energetic for networking during the day. If you are someone that gets a lot from naps, sneaking out of the conference for an hour or two mid day to go back to your room and rest or put your legs up may also be a good strategy. Same goes for food - it can be easy to forget to eat and drink a real meal when you’re busy networking and attending happy hours with appetizers.
Tips for after the industry conference
Make a plan to follow up with connections you wanted to follow up with after the conference soon (but not too soon!). After the conference, many people are overwhelmed and can take a bit to settle back into their normal schedules, so emailing someone as soon as you board your plane may result in the email getting lost. It doesn’t hurt to wait a few days to allow people to recover, but then do follow up before they’ve had a chance to forget you. Be intentional in how you communicate, as they may have many emails to go through, reminding them what you talked about and what you hope to achieve by connecting with them again.
Connect with everyone you met at the conference on LinkedIn. Even if you don’t want to email them separately because you don’t have an ask at the moment, connect with them on LinkedIn so you can keep an eye on what they’re doing and they can see your updates as well. You never know when the connection may be meaningful later!
Post pictures or recaps on social media such as LinkedIn. This can be a great way to continue the conversation and the networking. Pay attention to the hashtags everyone is using and use those in your posts, as people may be searching for them.
Recap what went well and what to do differently next time!
Conclusion
Attending a health tech conference can be an amazing opportunity for a physician, and we highly encourage it! However, especially if you’ve never attended one before and are interested in innovation in the industry, you should approach the conference intentionally. By selecting the right conference to attend, putting together a tentative plan ahead of time, and scheduling meetings with people of interest, you can help maximize your time and experience.
Additional resources for physicians interested in health tech
Explore related PSG resources:
We also offer a free health tech and entrepreneurship educational series for physicians interested in attending future virtual events and watching replays of past webinars.