We had a fantastic week at the Australian Association of Practice Managers 2011 National Conference held in Perth, Australia from October 18 to 21. As a major sponsor for the conference, we were delighted to see delegates enjoying our ads in the conference guide.

One of the best parts of the conference was the opportunity that we had to meet delegates from across Australia. They represented general practices, specialist practices, Aboriginal Health Services, the Royal Flying Doctor Service and more. We enjoyed learning about the hard work that Practice Managers do to support their practitioners and to look after their patients. We also had the opportunity to host an evening of drinks and discussion for a few delegates.

It was so exciting to see our Twitter hashtag suggestion for the conference - #AAPM2011 - being used by several attendees. We of course sent out a few tweets ourselves - you can check them out at www.twitter.com/AllJobsHealth.

There were some fantastic presentations at the AAPM conference. After the welcome to country, Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi gave a fantastic welcome. She said so many great things about Perth, and we felt especially proud, given that All Jobs Health is located in the City of Perth.

Dr Sally Cockburn gave an entertaining presentation about health and life, and some insipirational examples from her patients. She had some great slides, including one about how patients are increasingly looking for their medical information on Google. Her solution - look up Google with her patients!

Dr Carmen Lawrence (former WA Premier and Federal politician) offered insightful thoughts about the relationship between economic development and human wellbeing, as well as the environmental consequences of increasing consumption. She also spoke about how technology was supposed to give us more time at home - instead, in developed countries, we’re working longer hours and with increased intensity. She suggested that we take time to enjoy our natural surroundings so that we can relax - even if for a short time.

Several sessions were about eHealth, and in particular the progress being made by NEHTA (Australia’s National eHealth Transition Authority) in moving toward a PCEHR (Personally Controlled eHealth Record). The aim of course is to provide better communication between healthcare providers, ultimately heading to better health management for individuals. This will be particularly relevant for those with chronic conditions, such as diabetes or asthma.

Tony Bongiorno from Bongiorno Group gave a couple of excellent presentation - one was about appropriate business structures for medical-related entities, and another was about his personal experience and advice for achieving work-life balance.

AAPM2011 ended with a gala dinner, which was a perfect conclusion to the conference. Suffice to say, All Jobs Health is looking forward to the next one.