I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to attend a good number of events at the recent HIMSS conference, particularly some very interesting workshops and keynote addresses. I also had a great deal of informal one-on-one interactions with new and familiar colleagues alike. From a clinician’s perspective, one of the points I heard with great consistency was a concern that the provider community was sorely under-represented at the event. Granted, HIMSS is a technology-focused conference that is basically for-technologists-by-technologists, if you will, but the sentiment was that it would have been better balanced with a stronger clinical contingent.  

I tend to agree. With virtually all eyes focused on how to best deploy technology to reform and transform health care, having additional experienced clinical insights at the table would have significantly benefited all of the stakeholders. Hopefully we can rectify this for HIMSS 2010 and promote a closer partnership between the technical and provider communities. This will give us a more accurate depiction of the health care universe, which can only be more helpful for everyone.  

Something I found quite inspiring at HIMSS was the very strong sense that technology companies are seeing beyond their respective niches and better understanding the downstream impact of what they do. For example, we’re now seeing companies that traditionally focus on, say, the payer segment seeking to augment their support for physicians, members and so on. This means the payer-focused company now understands how the products and services it offers impact its customer’s customers, so to speak. More and more, organizations are seeing how what they do — even if it’s a seemingly small part of the equation — fits in to the end-to-end process of improving health care. This can only mean great things for the partnerships and strategic alliances that will be necessary for us to deliver on health IT’s tremendous promise.  In all, HIMSS was great for both MEDecision and for me personally. I was thankful to experience the energy and enthusiasm of an industry preparing for a very bright future.