VACCINATION REQUIRED:

PCMA has adopted a “Vaccination Required” approach for the Business Forum. Therefore, all attendees must provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination in order to attend the Business Forum at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes.

All registrants will be required to upload their vaccination card and government-issued ID to the VOW Digital Health app for verification.

According to CDC guidance, to be considered fully vaccinated, a person must be into one of two categories:

• 2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, or
    
• 2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.

TESTING REQUIRED:

Out of an abundance of caution, we will deploy COVID testing protocols for attendees of the Business Forum. By doing so we aim to offer the safest possible environment where attendees are free to interact without masks outdoors at our receptions and meal functions. We will require masks only in our general session hall where our educational and thought leadership sessions take place each morning, and we will recommend that private meeting participants consider CDC guidance for mask use indoors.

Pre-Arrival Testing:

In addition to our requirement that all attendees be vaccinated, attendees will be required to provide proof of a negative antigen or PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes. Tests will need to be administered by a healthcare facility. Unfortunately, over the counter home tests cannot be accepted unless they have verifiable results from a doctor’s office.

Please make an appointment or other arrangements for this test as soon as possible. If extenuating circumstances make it so that you will not be able to submit a pre-arrival test within the 72-hour window before your arrival at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes, please contact pcmaconferences@pcmanet.org. Test results will be uploaded by attendees and verified in the VOW Digital Health App in the same way that attendees are verifying their vaccination. Should an attendee test positive in the 72-hour pre-arrival window, PCMA will refund both the registration fee and the hotel deposit.

Should an attendee test positive before arrival, PCMA will refund their registration fee and hotel deposit once their positive test result is uploaded into the VOW Digital Health portal.

• PCMA will implement the health and safety practices as issued by local and state health authorities, including the venue, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
• Touchless registration kiosks and check-in processes.
• Hand sanitizer stations will be placed throughout the conference space and in common areas.
• For the larger meeting spaces, The JW Marriott Grande Lakes’s HVAC system operates at 30% air turnover. The frequency and enhancement of air filter replacement and HVAC system cleaning has been increased while fresh air exchange is maximized.
• We plan to host our receptions outdoors where possible. Additional information coming soon.
• Sponsor and member private meeting rooms are all indoors. We will recommend that all attendees wear masks in these rooms, although we will not be enforcing mask use.
• The JW Marriott Grande Lakes staff will be required to wear masks while providing services within the conference spaces. This is subject to change in accordance with state and local guidelines and hotel policies.

Q: What are your vaccination protocols for event?

• PCMA has determined that the safest, most productive way to conduct this event is to require vaccinations for all Business Forum attendees.

Q: How will PCMA verify that attendees are vaccinated?

• All registrants will be required to upload their vaccination card and government issued ID to the VOW Digital Health app for verification. Shortly after registering for the conference, registrants will receive a text notification on their mobile phone prompting them to submit their documentation.
  The app will notify PCMA of successful completion of the verification. PCMA will not have access to information shared in the App.

Additional information about VOW Digital Health App:

• VOW Digital Health captures the minimum data to facilitate COVID-clearing by capturing proof-of-negative COVID health credentials at scale for comfort, confidence and joy around live experiences.
• VOW Digital Health is not subject to the HIPAA rules and regulations because it does not meet the definition of a “Covered Entity” under the law.
• VOW Digital Health is also not subject to HIPAA as a Business Associate because VOW is not providing services on behalf of a HIPAA Covered Entity.
• VOW Digital Health complies with all applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act.
• VOW Digital Health also implements reasonable administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect any personal information or personal data that it collects.
• VOW Digital Health purges uploads within approximately 2 business days after an event.  Only user accounts remain including first name, last name, cell phone, email and DOB.
• VOW Digital Health does not scan or capture any other data presented on government-issued IDs or health credentials such as a vaccine record or test.
• VOW Digital Health does not assert the legitimacy of a person’s government-issued ID or health credential.  Users affirm that their information is real and consent to uploading it to VOW Digital Health for the purposes outlined in the Terms and Conditions.
• VOW Digital Health does not use any end user data for sales or marketing.

Q: Will unvaccinated individuals be permitted to attend any portion of the event?

• No.

Q: How will PCMA handle tracking and notifying attendees should it become known that a COVID-19 infected individual was in contact with conference attendees?

• PCMA attendees will be issued RFID badges upon check-in, and should it become necessary for health and safety notification purposes, we will access attendee passage through security checkpoints to determine PCMA conference events and venues attendees visited on the JW Marriott Grande Lakes/Ritz Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes properties. However, this may not apply in many of the common spaces throughout the property.

CDC

PCMA is using the third party, VOW Digital Health App, to verify attendees vaccine and negative test. All registered attendees will receive a text message from VOW on your mobile phone. When you receive the text message please complete the following steps:

1)   Have a photo of your government-issued ID and vaccine record in your phone’s photo album.

2)   Click the link in the text message, which you can also access here, and follow the steps to COVID-clear.

**Should you need it, the Health Protocol ID is YNE-82Y

Those of you who attended the PCMA Annual Meeting in September will find that your account is still active, as is your vaccine verification, so you will not need to upload these documents a second time. Please note that you WILL need to upload a negative COVID test within 72 hours of arrival.

COVID Testing Requirements

72 hours before the Business Forum you will receive another text message prompting you to upload your negative COVID-19 test result. Please be sure to make arrangements now to have your test taken within the 72-hour window of your arrival in Orlando.

The following are notes and guidelines for the types of tests VOW will accept.

• You may submit either a negative PCR or antigen test
• Tests must be administered either in person or via a proctored telehealth visit by a doctor’s office, licensed healthcare provider, or pharmacy
• Self-administered home tests without a proctored telehealth visit will NOT be accepted.
• The test result you upload must come from the provider who administered the test.
• An example of a proctored at-home test that we will accept is the BinaxNow test with eMed Telehealth Services
• Your own photo of your negative test result is not acceptable. The test result must provide verifiable results that include the provider, patient name, date of the test, and date of result.

We will not have onsite testing at the meeting, so please make sure you test and receive your results and upload them into VOW before coming to the registration desk.