General Guidelines
These guidelines are for all ASHEcon conference session participants (presenters, chairs, and discussants) to establish expectations. Please review the guidelines for your specific session type. All presenting authors, chairs, discussants, speakers, presenters and moderators will be required to confirm their participation in the conference no later than April 15th, 2026.
Important Dates
February 19 — Registration opens at ASHEcon.org and the preliminary program, is also available.
April 15 – Speaker participation confirmation deadline.
April 16 — Early Bird Registration ends.
May 8 — Deadline for presenters to make changes to abstracts, affiliations, titles, etc.
May 22 — Final or updated papers due to session chair & discussant.
May 29 – All presenters should be registered for the conference prior to the regular registration rates ending.
June 7-10 — 14th Annual Conference of the American Society of Health Economists.
Session Format
Session chair
The chair can be critical to the success of a session. The principal challenge for a chair is to enforce time allotments. This is essential for these condensed session lengths. A presenter that runs over his or her allotted time is using time that belongs to another presenter or to the audience.
The tasks of chairs are as follows:
- Monitor paper progress before the meetings.
- Convene the session, to make introductions, and to make sure that everyone knows the flow of the session and how much time they are allotted.
- Start the session on time and state the ground rules at the beginning of the discussion, including timing and commitment to discussion. Note that observing stated time limits shows respect for other presenters and for the audience.
- Introduce all participants at the beginning of the session.
- Monitor the clock. Presenters who appear to be off-track for completion on time should be cautioned mid-presentation. You should notify presenters of their approaching time limit.
- Facilitate audience Q&A. Be prepared to initiate the question period if the audience is not engaged and ensure that questions and statements from the audience are short and to the point.
- We ask that session chairs to allow about fifteen minutes at the end of each session for general discussion and mingling. We highly encourage you to schedule a practice run with the other participants in your session.
Chair Guideline Summary
To sum up the guidelines for chairs, please keep the following in mind:
- Before the Conference: Connect with presenters to coordinate the timing and session organization
- During the Session: Introduce the session participants
- During the Session: Track time of each participant, ensuring the session runs smoothly
- During the Session: Facilitate Q&A session by accepting audience questions and posing questions from the presenters for audience response.
Presenting Author
Please remember that your presentation is not only a way to share your research but also a time to receive valuable feedback from others.
The following format is suggested as it has been found to work well within the time frame you are allotted for your presentation.
Organization
Begin with a one-minute overview summary of the abstract that includes the central question addressed and the major conclusions.
Explanation
Follow with the reasons listeners ought to accept the abstract’s conclusions: the underlying theory, description of the evidence, methodological defense of the evidence, and connection to (and improvement upon) the existing literature. This manner of exposition differs from that of a journal article, but it is more appropriate to a conference format. Speaking is a more effective way to get an explanation across than reading.
Question and Answer
Please prepare any questions to pose to the audience that can help you answer questions or points that you may have overlooked in your research.
Presenting Author Guideline Summary
To sum up the guidelines for presenting authors, please keep the following in mind:
- Before the Conference: Connect with the chair and presenters to coordinate the timing and session organization