HIMSS15 and the Evolving Importance of Patient Centered Care

 

The Health Care Information Management Systems Society’s annual conference – more colloquially known as HIMSS15 – is a gathering of more than 38,000 health care IT professionals and stakeholders from around the world taking place this week in Chicago. As the largest gathering of health IT experts in the world, it is a must-attend for us here at CNSI. Our Vice President of Federal Health Joel Horwitz is on the ground in the Windy City to give his personal takeaways:

HIMSS15 is the pinnacle event of our industry. It’s incredible to be surrounded by so many people dedicated to innovation in the field of health IT. There’s a great deal to be seen and heard, and I was quite pleased to see emphasis on one particular topics I consider a vital pursuit.

Unsurprisingly, analytics, revenue cycle management, and interoperability were once again topics of importance. However, many in the “user community” – the administrators, payers and providers and others – have become sharply focused on the significance of patient engagement. In fact, a survey presented during a session of the conference yesterday revealed that 72 percent of hospital IT executives consider patient engagement to be a top-of-mind priority. I have been extremely happy to see this shift – patient engagement is absolutely central to health care. However obvious that may seem, it is too often overlooked by the technology vendors responsible for creating the products that find their way into the hands of the user community.

As I browsed booths and showcases, and attended panel discussions, I found myself categorizing the presentations I encountered into three distinct groups. There were a number of presentations that had an undeniable ‘wow’ factor, using ‘cool’ technology to effectively highlight a product. There were others that presented genuinely innovative products that performed functions previously unheard of. Finally, there were presentations that focused less on flash or invention and more on the tangible benefit to patient well-being.

It is this final category I found myself most drawn to. How do the technological innovations we develop actually contribute to improved health? How do they engage the patient to establish a personal responsibility for health? These are the central questions that I was happy to see many innovators take to heart and attempt to answer through presentations.

To learn more about HIMSS15, please click here. In the meantime, join the conversation by following CNSI on Twitter and be sure to let us know if you have any questions or comments for Joel.

 

This blog entry was written by Joel Horwitz, CNSI’s Vice President of Federal Health. He leads CNSI’s Federal health strategic initiatives development efforts in support of the Federal healthcare community. Joel presently serves as the Industry Chair of the America Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) Federal Healthcare Working Group and has held numerous leadership roles with the ACT-IAC. He will be writing about current events and topics around federal health including interoperability.  Connect with Joel on LinkedIn