The SMDM is excited to welcome everyone to Seattle, Washington, USA for its 2022 North American meeting. The SMDM Annual North American Meeting is more than a conference; it is a gathering of your professional community and colleagues. Meeting in-person offers an educational experience and community connections that are difficult to recreate online. We recognize, however, that meeting in person comes with some risk and we have, therefore, created guidelines and procedures to ensure the safest experience possible.  Please read these guidelines to learn what SMDM is doing and what you can do to contribute to everyone’s wellness

Procedures will be based on recommendations from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Public Health—Seattle & King County. Note that changes in recommendations from public health officials may impact the SMDM COVID-19 guidelines, and notice will be provided should any changes be needed.

Please do not attend the meeting in-person if you are displaying signs/symptoms of COVID-19 (these typically include fever, cough, and shortness of breath). All in-person attendees (registrants, presenters, and staff) are required to sign an affirmation that they will follow the SMDM Annual Meeting COVID-19 Guidelines and Procedures while attending the meeting. The affirmation includes a disclaimer providing protection to SMDM, the meeting management company, and the official conference hotel should transmission of COVID-19 occur.

Masking All in-person attendees agree to adhere to the conference mask mandate and to wear masks in all conference event rooms and as much as possible during refreshment breaks. We strongly encourage all attendees to wear a mask at all times in the public areas of the hotel. N95 or KN95 masks are recommended per US CDC guidance. Please be sure to bring enough masks to wear for each day of the conference or you can order these in advance when you register for the meeting.

Vaccination It is strongly recommended that all in-person attendees be current in their vaccinations as defined by the US CDC. All travelers from outside of the USA are required to be fully vaccinated to enter the country per US CDC mandates.

Rapid Antigen Testing It is strongly recommended that all in-person attendees take a daily COVID-19 rapid antigen test each day of the conference. Please be sure to bring enough tests with you to take one each day, or you can order these in advance when you register for the meeting. A limited number of tests will be available at the registration desk for a nominal cost.

Reporting COVID-19 Infection Should any in-person attendee test positive on a daily COVID-19 rapid antigen test or other COVID-19 test, they agree to report this to the meeting staff and only attend the meeting virtually. If any attendee tests positive after attending any meeting sessions, they will also share a list of the conference sessions they attended with the meeting staff. Should an in-person attendee contract COVID-19 while in attendance the meeting staff will assist the attendee in obtaining any needed medical assistance and medications. Notice will be provided to all attendees should there be an onsite COVID-19 exposure. The notice will preserve the attendee’s anonymity but will list any events and sessions where exposure occurred.

Lanyards In-person attendees will have the opportunity to select a badge lanyard indicating their preferences for socializing: Red for “I’m comfortable with keeping 6 Feet/2 Meter distance,” Yellow for “Avoiding physical contact, but happy to chat,” and Green for “Open to physical contact”.

Hand Sanitizer Hand sanitizer stations will be placed at registration and at the entry of every meeting room occupied by meeting events and sessions.

Physical Distancing All session and breakout room seating will follow local physical distancing guidance at the time of the event. There will also be additional efforts to alleviate any potential congestion in high traffic areas.

Changing to Virtual Attendance Any in-person registrant will be able to change their registration from in-person to virtual at any time for no additional cost. Please note that in-person registration does include full access to the virtual events that will be streamed live and available for viewing for 30 days after the meeting.

The novel coronavirus, COVID‑19, has been declared a worldwide pandemic and is very contagious.  COVID‑19 can cause serious and potentially life-threatening illness and even death. The Society for Medical Decision Making has taken and will continue to take reasonable precautions to prevent against the presence and spread of the disease at its North American Annual Meeting but cannot and does not guarantee protection against exposure. Therefore, in choosing to attend the SMDM North American Annual Meeting in person, in person registrants acknowledge that they may be exposed to COVID‑19 and its health risks, agree to adhere to the stated guidelines and procedures, and accept the risk of being exposed to, contracting, or spreading COVID-19 or other contagious diseases along with all related consequences.

Please contact us at Info@SMDM.org with any questions.