Call for Abstracts
Community Health Center Association of Mississippi
CHCAMS 39th Annual Conference
September 22-24, 2026
Beau Rivage Resort & Casino
Biloxi, Mississippi
Please submit abstracts for workshops, oral presentations, or poster presentations by completing the online submission process. Abstract proposals should align with one of the conference tracks and be responsive to the 2026 conference theme: A Legacy of Care, A Future of Possibilities.
Dates to Remember
Please note the dates below to ensure your abstract is considered.
February 16, 2026
Call for abstracts open. Submit your abstract online or email your abstract to CHCAMSabstracts@chcams.org.
April 10, 2026
Completed submissions are due by 5:00 CST.
April 11-19, 2026
Abstract review period.
April 21, 2026
Accepted presenters will be notified by email.
Scoring Criteria
All abstracts will be scored based on five equally weighted criteria.
Presents clear and relevant learning objectives, clearly identifies appropriate workshop components, development of findings and approaches/interventions are logically organized.
Describes approaches/interventions that have been analyzed or evaluated and tested using evidence-informed methods and describes how approaches/interventions can be replicated.
Presents novel approaches and creative models that feature new partnerships and collaborative relationships, emerging best practices, advanced care and treatment approaches, and/or evidence-informed interventions that demonstrate improved health outcomes.
Details use of approaches to maximize human resources/staffing, fiscal and/or contracting practices, efficient internal operations, and effective implementation of clinical interventions, and service delivery. Additionally, identifies innovative approaches to ensure program effectiveness and sustainability and improved health outcomes for patients served by Federally Qualified Health Centers.
Highlights measurable impact on service delivery; replicable technical assistance tools and methods; and/or data-driven approaches that overcome challenges.
Conference Tracks
There are five conference tracks.
Administration/Advocacy/Leadership Track:
The goal of the administrative track is to provide sessions that help participants develop a basic understanding of the administrative aspects of managing health centers and be exposed to innovative ways to strengthen health center leadership competencies. Target audiences for this track are C-STE leadership, emerging health center leaders, and health center board members. Topics address best practices to support leadership in grassroots advocacy efforts, innovations to health center operations, and strategic planning, among others.
Clinical/Dental Track:
The track is designed to support health centers and address quality improvement measures in the areas of clinical and dental services at health centers. Presenters are encouraged to submit innovative approaches to addressing patient-centered care, increasing quality improvement metrics, innovative approaches to chronic care management, best practices for increasing the utilization of dental services at FQHCs, and new models and procedures for dental care.
Finance Track:
This track is designed to support health centers in identifying innovative ways to address capital development, financial sustainability, financial trends in health centers, and financial performance improvement. The presenters should present in this track issues that focus on addressing the overall financial viability of the health centers.
Social Work Track:
This track is designed to support social workers within health centers in achieving integration as a member of the integrated care team while showcasing new and innovative models from the field. Here presenters should submit presentations that will enhance social workers’ professional development and assist them in securing continuing education (CE) credit in the areas of ethics, mandated reporting and cultural diversity. Furthermore, in this track, presenters are encouraged to submit abstracts that demonstrate social workers as an integral part of a holistic care team in addition to evidence based best practices that improve patient outcome.
Value-Based Care and Health Information Technology Track:
This track is designed to present best practices in value based care, including utilization of health information technology resources as well as expertise of organizations that have proven themselves successful in value based performance. Here presenters can showcase platforms and initiatives that demonstrate excellence in improving quality of care as well as lowering total cost of care.
Session Types and Format
Each presentation (except poster presentations) must include presentation title, author’s name, name of organization, presentation track, learning objective and the abstract’s main text.
Oral Presentation:
Oral presentations are a one (1) hour presentation regarding the proposed topic. Oral sessions can involve multiple presenters giving separate talks that share common themes or topics. Each presenter is allotted an amount of time to speak (usually around 10-15 minutes) with some added time for a question-and-answer after each presentation.
Workshop Presentation:
Workshops are two (2) hour sessions regarding the proposed topic. Workshops provide an opportunity to exchange information or work on a common problem, project, or shared interest. They typically include presentations that allow adequate time for interaction and/or reflective discussion.
Roundtable Presentation:
Roundtable presentations are one (1) hour presentations in panel format. Roundtable sessions feature a group of presenters who will make brief, informal remarks about a specific idea or topic. They allow for extensive discussion and audience participation. These sessions can take many forms, with presenters delivering prepared statements or diving straight into questions from the moderator or audience. Regardless of format, they’re designed to elicit an exchange of viewpoints among the experts on a topic.
Poster Presentation:
Poster presentations are designed to showcase the innovative work your organization has conducted. Provide insight into best practices your organization has developed. “Innovation” is defined as an initiative/program that changes the healthcare setting and the way care is delivered to do ANY of the following for underserved populations:
- Enhance access to needed care and services
- Produce better results (whether health outcomes, patient experience, staff satisfaction, etc.)
- Lower total cost of care
POSTER PRESENTATION GUIDELINES
Poster materials should be displayed on a 5′ x 3′ poster board. Since a poster format is best when your material can easily be communicated visually, text should be limited to brief statements.
- Each presentation should make a unified, coherent statement.
- Materials, both textual and visual, should be of professional quality and be legible from a distance of four feet (4′)
- 5′ x 3′ poster board (landscape-oriented only)
- Posters should be professionally printed.
