DCI, which has been producing high-tech trade shows for the past 20 years, recently created a new subsidiary for the healthcare industry. According to DCI Health’s managing director Elizabeth Cutler, who formerly served as vice president of the National Managed Healthcare Congress and general manager of the Cambridge Healthtech Institute, "It’s a good move for DCI because healthcare and technology issues are becoming more intertwined. It’s a good product extension for them."

Because it was created as a separate entity, Cutler says, "We can move a lot faster to launch a new event." And not just new events, but new kinds of events, she says. "We have a more multidisciplinary approach than association meetings, which tend to focus on a single, targeted audience. We’re bringing together leaders in business, life sciences, medicine, and policy. I think that’s where the gap is right now."

DCI Health is starting out with an event called the Medical Leadership Institute in 2004, which will bring together medical leaders from all different areas of the industry to discuss the business and clinical sides of healthcare. Larger, exhibitor-driven events aimed at consumer education are slated to begin in 2005. "Our advisory board reflects our commitment to a multidisciplinary approach, the connection between the hospitals, insurance companies, physicians, and people doing the early-stage research," says Cutler, adding that the board includes the president of the Institute of Systems Biology and the chief medical officer of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare. "Normally, those two people wouldn’t be talking with each other," she says.

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