INFORMS Introduces New Thematic Conference on the Health Sector

June 20-22, 2011 – Montreal, Canada

INFORMS will introduce a new, highly-focused brand of conference in 2011 with a three-day meeting on the health sector, aimed at bringing healthcare researchers and stakeholders together. INFORMS Healthcare 2011 will be held June 20-22, 2011 at the Hilton Bonaventure Hotel in Montreal, Canada. The conference will combine the deep research focus of a traditional INFORMS meeting with an emphasis on real-world application that distinguishes the INFORMS analytics (practitioner) conference.

General Chair Vedat Verter, Professor of Operations Management at McGill University, has formed an Organizing Committee of respected OR/MS professionals, including Diwakar Gupta from University of Minnesota, Beste Kucukyazici of MIT-Zaragoza, Eva K. Lee of Georgia Tech, and Sergei Savin of The Wharton School.

The preliminary list of sponsored clusters includes INFORMS communities, such as the Health Applications Section and MSOM-SIG on Healthcare Operations Management, as well as several key societies outside INFORMS. The Canadian Operational Research Society, IIE Health Systems Society, POMS College of Healthcare Operations Management, and the EURO working group on Operational Research Applied to Health Services, are among the organizations participating in the program.

In addition, Invited Clusters on topics such as medical decision making, computational optimization, putting IE/OR into practice, and other current topics are being organized. With presentations by researchers and practitioners from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and around the world, the conference will offer a cross-cultural view of healthcare systems.

Presentations will be of the highest quality, with all submissions reviewed by the committee and chairs. Authors are invited to submit in a choice of formats, either for oral presentation or for interactive poster sessions, and must submit a two-page extended abstract as well as 50-word summary. Abstract submission is now open, with the deadline of February 1, 2011.

Several structured networking techniques that are popular at the INFORMS practitioner conference will be incorporated into the program. Birds-of-a-feather discussion groups will focus on defined topics, and networking tables facilitated by conference organizers will encourage exchange.

The conference venue, the Hilton Bonaventure Hotel, is an urban resort with 2 ½ acres of rooftop gardens, right in the heart of downtown Montreal. The discounted INFORMS hotel rate of $185 includes Internet access, heated pool and fitness club – all complimentary to meeting attendees.

For complete information and to submit an abstract: meetings.informs.org/healthcare2011.

Terry Cryan is INFORMS Interim Executive Director and Meetings Director.

Vedat Verter is Professor of Operations Management at McGill University in Montreal and General Chair of the Conference.