Both to offer member benefits at the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care & Wound Healing Society (SAWC/WHS) Spring Conference and AAWC to Endorse New SAWC Fall Program

Millstone Township, NJ (April 13, 2009) – North American Center for Continuing Medical Education, LLC (NACCME), a leading accredited medical education and communications company, which sponsors the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care and Wound Healing Society (SAWC/WHS) Spring conference and the soon-to-launch SAWC Fall program, announced today it has signed new five-year agreements with WHS and the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC). The WHS agreement continues the partnership and co-location with the annual SAWC/WHS Spring meeting through 2013. The partnership with the AAWC also includes SAWC/WHS Spring and extends it to include the upcoming SAWC Fall meeting, launching in September 2009 in Washington, DC.

“WHS and AAWC have both been important partners for SAWC,” says Rosemary Hodgson, President, Communications, NACCME. “The WHS is recognized as the leading scientific organization focused in the area of wound healing, and AAWC is a leader in building an integrated community of patients and caregivers focused exclusively on optimal care and healing for wound care. Both of these organizations’ participation at SAWC/WHS Spring and AAWC’s participation in SAWC Fall brings expertise and experience that enhance program discussions and networking opportunities among this important group of clinicians.”

The WHS membership consists of about 500 physicians, residents, practitioners, students, and researchers from the United States and other countries. The Society provides a forum for interaction among clinicians, industry, and government agencies. The AAWC's membership of over 1,600 is composed of clinicians, patients and their lay caregivers, facilities, industry, students, and others interested in the care of wounds. Members benefit from programs, information, and events that provide greater knowledge on techniques, care, and new technologies for treating wounds.

“The WHS is pleased to sign this new five-year agreement with NACCME to continue co-locating our Society meeting with the SAWC/WHS Spring program,” said Allen Holloway, MD, and President of WHS. “The WHS’s expertise in the science of wound care combined with the SAWC’s clinical interests has created a very successful wound care conference that provides the latest information on the science and practice of wound care. This collaboration offers tremendous synergies between the researchers developing the next generation of wound care products and clinical practitioners caring for patients with wounds.”

“The AAWC feels fortunate and enthusiastic about our continued partnership with the SAWC,” says William Ennis, DO, MBA, FACOS, and President of AAWC. “With our new five-year agreement in place, the AAWC will continue to use the SAWC/WHS Spring conference for our annual Board of Directors’ meeting, but now we can offer our members two choices of dates and locations each year to attend – SAWC/WHS Spring or SAWC Fall. AAWC endorses both meetings, and we are confident that the AAWC will help drive growth at the annual fall meeting as it joins SAWC/WHS Spring as the best and largest multidisciplinary wound care meeting in the United States.”

For more than two decades, the SAWC and WHS have hosted thousands of physicians, podiatrists, nurses, physical therapists, researchers, dieticians, and medical professionals involved in wound care and wound healing to discuss the scientific breakthroughs, advances, and treatments in the field. Conference objectives are to recognize the scientific basis of wound care and apply this understanding to patient care; employ advanced therapeutic approaches in wound care; and appreciate the multiple disciplines involved in the total care of patients with wound problems.

In addition to its involvement with SAWC/WHS Spring and SAWC Fall, NACCME also sponsors CME/CE activities that reach medical professionals—physicians, pharmacists, podiatrists, nurses, physician assistants, and other allied healthcare professionals—in many different formats. Through meetings, publications, and web-based programming, thousands of healthcare practitioners participate in these accredited activities, expanding their clinical knowledge and competence by examining current medical issues, trends, therapies, and technologies. CME/CE activities sponsored by NACCME are produced to strengthen practitioner awareness of evidence-based patient care advances in a broad range of therapeutic areas, illustrating NACCME’s commitment to improving healthcare practitioner knowledge, competence, and performance, ultimately to improve patient care.

For information about attending the 2009 SAWC/WHS Spring meeting, April 26 - 29 in Dallas, Texas at the Gaylord Texan Hotel and Convention Center or the SAWC Fall meeting, September 16 - 18 in Washington, DC at the Gaylord NATIONAL Hotel and Convention Center, please visit www.sawc.net or call (800) 237-7285 x 233 to request a brochure.

For information on grant support opportunities, please contact Tiffney Oliver, NACCME, at 609-371-1137.

HMP Communications, LLC is the marketing and management company for SAWC/WHS Spring and SAWC Fall. HMP Communications’ Wound Care Division has experienced tremendous growth and success over the past 24 months, adding Today’s Wound Clinic to its portfolio. The Wound Care Division also includes WOUNDS, the most widely read, peer-reviewed journal focusing on wound care and research; Ostomy Wound Management (OWM), the only peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary publication specifically dedicated to the advanced wound care practitioner; and Podiatry Today, the only BPA-audited journal that reaches every practicing podiatrist in the United States. WOUNDS and OWM are official organization journals of the AAWC.

HMP Communications has spent the past two decades focusing on advances in the clinical care and treatment in some of the world’s most debilitating diseases and medical conditions. Today, healthcare professionals consider HMP Communications’ medical journals, websites, meetings, and symposia as authoritative sources for comprehensive information in the fields of wound care, dermatology, podiatry, cardiovascular care, electrophysiology, long term care, managed care, diabetes, arthritis, and specialized primary care. HMP Communications’ journals are both peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed to best disseminate critical content in the most effective manner for readers. In addition to online and print media, the company produces and manages tradeshows, conferences, symposia, digital programs, and customized programs.

For information on sponsorship and exhibit opportunities at SAWC/WHS Spring or SAWC Fall, please contact HMP Communications at 610-560-0500 x 203 and ask for Kristi Shelly.

HMP Communications Holdings LLC is the parent company of wholly-owned subsidiaries HMP Communications and NACCME. Both companies serve the vital needs of the medical community through various business models.