Meetings

And The Top 50 Largest U.S. Medical Meetings Are …

The Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Association recently announced the U.S. medical meetings with the greatest attendance numbers in 2013. The good news for the industry generally: Attendance continued a growth trend that began in 2009.

Attendance at U.S. medical meetings was up in 2013, albeit by about half a percentage point from the year before, according to the Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Association.

Upon the release of its list of the top 50 U.S. Medical Meetings last month, HCEA announced a 0.51 percent increase in overall attendance, while professional attendee participation increased by 3.51 percent from 2012.

The proportionally larger increase in professional attendance is similar to 2012 numbers and indicates a decline in the attendance of “others,” whom HCEA defines as exhibitors, spouses, media, and those attend for reasons other than clinical or scientific education. According to HCEA, exhibitors tend to make up a majority of the “other” category.

More than 1 million people, 716,382 of whom were professionals, attended the top 50 healthcare meetings in 2013, according to HCEA data, continuing the upward trend in medical meeting attendance since 2009.

These were the top five organizations with the largest total attendance:

  • The Federation of International Medical Equipment Suppliers (FIME) with 57,000 total attendees
  • The Greater New York Dental Meeting with 54,629 total attendees
  • The Radiological Society of North America, Inc., with 54,008 total attendees
  • The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society with 34,834 total attendees
  • The American Society of Clinical Oncology with 32,200 total attendees

Last year was the fourth in a row that FIME, the Greater New York Dental Meeting, and the Radiological Society of North America, Inc., took the top three spots.

Of the various healthcare sectors, dental-related meetings accounted for the most top-50 events, according to HCEA data. Notable advancements in attendee numbers were reported by the National Athletic Trainers’ Society, which went from 50th place in 2012 to 27th in 2013; the American Academy of Pediatrics, which moved from 40th to 28th; and the American Psychiatric Association, which moved up nine slots from 44 to 35.

(iStock/Thinkstock)

Katie Bascuas

By Katie Bascuas

Katie Bascuas is associate editor of Associations Now. MORE

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