HIMSS 2018: Health IT Leaders Look to Bolster Care Strategies and Technology Management
In a recent interview with HealthTech magazine, HIMSS President and CEO Hal Wolf III called the next five to 10 years "extraordinarily important" to a vastly changing healthcare environment. With the patient population aging and patients becoming more proactive about their health, Wolf recognized that maintaining the status quo in the industry is not enough for patients or providers.
Attendees at this year's annual HIMSS conference — from March 5-9 in Las Vegas — will have vast opportunities to dive into those topics and more. The conference will feature more than 1,300 vendors and will hold more than 300 education sessions focused on health information and technology.
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HIMSS 2018 Focuses on Modernizing Care and Infrastructure
During the opening keynote on March 5, former Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt will share his thoughts on technology's role in modernizing healthcare and how the industry can speed progress to better reach patients.
The Internet of Things will be a prime discussion point for many attendees, both from an infrastructure and cybersecurity standpoint and a care delivery perspective, according to Chris Logan, a senior healthcare strategist with VMware, who calls the future of IoT simple and straight to the point.
"I think what you'll see is analysis of connected equipment and sensors — ensuring their reliability, ensuring a proper use case for it," Logan says.
From 1-2 p.m. on March 7, Cletis Earle, vice president and CIO for Buffalo, N.Y.-based Kaleida Health, will share how IoT and wayfinding technology is transforming his organization to deliver better outcomes. He will be joined by CDW Healthcare Business Architect David Frumkin, and the pair will continue their discussion at 3 p.m. in CDW's booth (No. 5432).
Several cybersecurity sessions are also worth noting, including a discussion at 4 p.m. on March 6 focusing on how healthcare organizations can inoculate themselves against ransomware. The discussion will be led by Cisco Head of Security Research Analyst Team Brad Antoniewicz. A security session led by Mark Lachniet, information security solutions manager at CDW, will commence at 11 a.m. the following day in the CDW booth.
Senior Care Transformation Takes Center Stage
On the senior care front, Thrive Center Executive Director and CEO Sheri Rose will share how the Louisville, Ky.-based organization is collaborating with the government, healthcare providers and technology partners to transform the industry during a session at 5 p.m. on March 7. Additionally, CDW Healthcare experts Ginna Baik and Nancy Ragont will talk about innovations in senior care and how organizations should choose and implement such tools at 11:30 a.m. on March 8.
Contract management and procurement also are top of mind for health IT executives charged with rolling out and updating technology solutions, especially as budgets are continually being cut. At 2 p.m. on March 6 in the CDW booth, Brian Fisher, manager of contract management at CDW, and Kim Krisik, strategic sales manager for CDW Healthcare, will share their expertise on achieving cost savings and value while truly investing in customer initiatives.
The HealthTech team will cover HIMSS18, digging into panel discussions and educational sessions while also interviewing industry executives and experts on the latest health IT trends. Bookmark our HIMSS18 landing page for stories and videos, and keep up with conference conversations on Twitter by following @CDW_Healthcare and using the hashtag #HIMSS18, as well as these other hashtags shared by HIMSS.
