A Conversation Without Borders

Among the diverse voices at the Forum were three standout attendees—one from Ghana, another from Brazil, and still another from India—all deeply committed to advancing scientific discovery and digital transformation in health, all sitting at one table coincidentally. Their presence reinforced the idea that innovation emerges not from a single system or nation but from a mosaic of lived experiences, cultural insight, and shared human purpose.

At a time when geopolitical divisions grow and xenophobic rhetoric clouds practical need, this convening of minds from across continents stands as a counterpoint: progress in medicine and public health demands openness, not isolation.

Today, two out of five HIMSS members live outside the United States, representing the tremendous growth in its international reach.

Global Minds and Shared Missions

Consider the stories behind some of the most transformative scientific breakthroughs. Dr. Tu Youyou, who drew upon traditional Chinese medicine to isolate artemisinin, reshaped malaria treatment and saved millions. Tu received the 2011 Lasker Award in clinical medicine and the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura for her work.

Dr. Salvador Moncada, born in Honduras and later based in the UK, changed the future of cardiovascular medicine through his work on nitric oxide. And Dr. Pardis Sabeti, born in Iran and raised in the United States, played a critical role in genomic tracking during the West African Ebola outbreak. These are not anomalies—they are the natural result of cross-border learning and purpose-driven science. In recognition of his tapping into the power of collaboration to accelerate biomedical discoveries, Dr. Salvador was nominated by the President of Honduras to serve as the country’s first Ambassador to China. 

Such examples underscore a larger point: global health challenges—from infectious disease to chronic illness—cannot be solved in silos. They require knowledge sharing, inclusive research, and the integration of clinical science, population health data, and epidemiological insights gathered across geographies. HIMSS is paving the way for people and countries to come together.

Today, health information flows freely across continents. Clinical trials are increasingly multinational. Genomic datasets used to train AI models include samples from diverse populations. Epidemiological patterns—from outbreaks to noncommunicable disease trends—are informed by data from regions that span income levels and infrastructure capacity. This global interconnectedness of knowledge is not only valuable—it is vital.

Health innovation now depends as much on access to ideas and information as on access to raw data or funding. Each individual—whether a clinician, data scientist, policymaker, patient or communicator—contributes to this ecosystem through their choices within their workplace, organization, advocacy group and community. These local actions ripple outward to impact global outcomes.

When people are empowered to think boldly and act collaboratively—regardless of where they are from—their influence transcends borders. This is especially true in a world where diseases migrate, health inequities persist, and environmental factors increasingly shape population health. No one country has a monopoly on the future of medicine, and no one person is immune to illness.

Science and Technology as a Bridge

Science is not merely technical; it is relational. It is built on trust, transparency, and the willingness to share. When data is exchanged openly—on disease trends, therapeutic outcomes, or environmental health risks—it becomes a force for public good. When it is withheld or politicized, it delays solutions and costs lives.

As HIMSS convened global thinkers in a borough symbolic of reinvention, the message was clear: advancing AI in health is not just about algorithms—it’s about equity, empathy, and inclusion. Those values begin not with policy mandates but with people. Beneath sessions on technology and policies, the conversation continually returned to the reality—it’s about people working collaboratively.

Every organization has the power to foster a culture where global voices are welcomed, collaboration is incentivized, and ideas are judged not by origin but by merit. The future of health will be shaped by how willing we are to embrace human potential, wherever it begins, and work with people who can help advance human health wherever they call home.

Brooklyn as a Setting and Symbol

Brooklyn is a fitting backdrop for these conversations. A city defined by generations of immigrants—scientists, healers and visionaries—stands as a beacon for what is possible when people are welcomed, not walled off. HIMSS is hosting its APAC meeting July 16-18 in Malaysia.

The HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum brought together technologists, clinicians, ethicists and entrepreneurs. But more than that, it reminds participants of something timeless: when diverse minds come together, knowledge is not only shared—it is elevated. When human potential is honored without prejudice, the possibilities for better health are limitless.

The post Science Has No Borders – And Neither Should Human Potential appeared first on Medika Life.

In this exclusive conversation, I join Hal Wolf, President and CEO of HIMSS, to explore HIMSS’s evolving role in fostering collaboration between hospitals, startups, and policymakers. With the health-ecosystem landscape tracking the early days of a new administration, uncertainties remain—ranging from regulatory shifts to funding allocations. Yet, as Wolf underscores, HIMSS remains steadfast in advancing health equity, supporting digital transformation, and offering actionable strategies that improve care delivery.

This conversation occurs between ViVE in Nashville and HIMSS in Las Vegas—two health gatherings that bring innovators, policymakers, and industry leaders together. While ViVE spotlights digital health startups, investment trends, and edgy sparks, HIMSS serves as the broader convening ground for professionals shaping the future of health information and technology. HIMSS is where the work happens—the “Davos” of health information.

Wolf outlines key issues such as integrating artificial intelligence in hospital systems, the role of primary care in driving better patient outcomes, and how organizations must balance innovation with financial realities. At HIMSS, essential dialogue between established institutions and emerging disruptors has never been more crucial.

Join us as we delve into the forces shaping the health system’s future—where technology, policy, and leadership converge to improve patient outcomes and system-wide efficiency.

Medika Life Editor Gil Bashe: In examining hospital systems, we focus on how information flows within our industry and who has access to it. We still have a lot to learn. These are the first few weeks of the new administration, and we don’t know how things will unfold, how the Senate Committees will approach these discussions, or how actions will be implemented. Will we rely on Executive Orders? If that’s the case, we know where to focus our attention. You’re a remarkable ambassador for the discipline and the sector, and certainly for HIMSS, a professional association, trade association, and global NGO.

People come to HIMSS with tremendous optimism, hoping to gain insights that will make them more effective. I prefer to focus on current developments and HIMSS priorities rather than just reacting to them; that’s a different conversation. I’ll also note that the administration’s conversation around health access, cost, and priorities is still in motion.

HIMSS CEO Hal Wolf: We don’t know enough to discuss new policies and their potential outcomes. One challenge will be securing funding. While we know things will be different, we don’t know where the policies will land. Still, we know that HIMSS is dedicated to its vision and mission statements as they fundamentally relate to realizing the full health potential of every human everywhere.

We are dedicated to health equity and will stay dedicated to it. Our collaboration with governments and NGOs worldwide and our fundamental principles will not change, nor should they! We’ll work with our principles within the context of whatever comes out of the White House.

We worked well with the previous Trump administration and collaborated effectively with ONC and HHS on various initiatives. We look forward to advancing the HIMSS mission within the established parameters.

Bashe: HIMSS is far more than an annual mammoth gathering; it’s a professional society that covers the full spectrum of health information and technology – from cybersecurity to economics to professional development and government policies. Unlike other popular meetings that primarily focus on networking, HIMSS is where professionals from around the globe come to set objectives, strategies, and operational priorities. It’s 30,000 feet and 3,000 in scope.

Wolf: This morning at 6:00 a.m., I had an interesting conversation with the CEO of a successful start-up that is getting distribution now and beginning to roll. At HIMSS, we see the merging of different worlds.

We have our core population, core members of the health ecosystem– hospitals, clinics, health operations, nurse practitioners, CMIOS, CIOS, physician leaders, and administrators. This group represents a significant portion of the HIMSS membership, which includes over 120,000 members.  

On the other hand, we have the entire global app ecosystem that drives innovation and introduces new ideas. As you know, many of these ideas and innovations are driven by personal experiences. A family member encountered a situation, and they tried to solve it. Or have worked in the industry, identified a gap, and pursued it.

They often have a long list of improvements to address, and, often, they aren’t performing well financially. Their reimbursement processes are a little murky, and this uncertainty might increase in 2025.

How much time do they have to integrate innovations that don’t directly impact their outcomes, quality, access or bottom line? Because everything’s being looked at in that piece.

We need to understand that the situation changes as the market evolves. What is the critical point where innovation intersects with standard operating procedures, and what does it look like? How can information from one area influence the other? We must determine how to identify the good and the bad and how to present them to the market.

What happens at the global conference? What happens in chapter meetings? What happens in the papers that are submitted? What happens in the insights? Much of this depends on how these elements connect.

Bashe: Many diverse health information communities come together yearly at HIMSS. You have consistently made this gathering relevant. This year, a new startup section called Emerge addresses a critical need within the HIMSS community. You just started with the story about a startup enterprise. Could you share some important and innovative aspects that will be highlighted at this year’s gathering?

Wolf: That’s a pressing question, so I’ll divide it into multiple parts because it’s challenging.

We’re part of the industry, so let’s return to your original premises to find the answer. You mentioned “competing,” which refers to people competing against each other. However, you also have specific points of interest to consider.

The benefit engine can determine how much money you’ll receive in reimbursement for a particular service. However, if you’re on the insurance or payer side, the configuration may depend on whether it’s for North America or a Ministry of Health. Here, the goal is to anticipate the costs incurred in treating a patient. This perspective aligns with an actuarial professional trying to understand and guide the process forward.

I’ve observed hospital systems are starting to integrate AI functionalities, but currently, only 5 to 7% are using it effectively, from an operational standpoint,

For example, when someone walks to the front desk and says their right arm is hurting, the staff collects the information by typing it into a form. They ask a couple of questions, such as “Who’s your primary care doctor? Who’s your insurance company? Are you on managed care? Is this new? What other ailments do you have? What other prescriptions do you have?” They must ask those questions if they don’t have that information readily available. That data feeds into new algorithms on the AI side.

In the background, AI analyzes the information and makes predictive models about how long this person would be in the hospital, what resources they will consume, and how much revenue it will generate. It’s occurring in the background, without the front desk staff being aware of AI’s calculations; meanwhile, the administrator is beginning to recognize the impact of these advancements. The inbound process begins with appropriate testing, questioning, and, if necessary, into a bed.

Meanwhile, the hospital administrator or the system managing the situation assesses the resources the patient will need, whether they will need a specialist and whether the specialist will be available when needed. By the time an exam takes place, they can inform the patient about what to expect in the next 24 to 48 hours, whether they will be staying at the hospital or going home. This preparation and communication represent the positive aspects of the process.  

The dark side is that the hospital engine in the background might say, “We’re not going to get a lot of money out of this. This is not a good use of our beds/time. If we maximize profits, we should send this person on and see what the next person will bring because our algorithm told us that five people would come in with congestive heart failure, and we do make money on that.”

The person writing this down may never realize what is happening; they won’t know that the system will indicate that the hospital is full, even though there might be capacity. Instead, they will tell the person to go down the street to Acme Community Hospital, which can take care of them, explaining that their system lacks resources. That is a dark coin flip to what could happen.

Bashe: Many hospital networks are acquiring primary care practices as feeder systems in their facilities. For example, if a patient is told, “You need to do a cardiac stress test. Do you have a cardiologist?” and they respond with “No?” the primary care provider can then say, “Why don’t you let me arrange that for you.” The primary care satellite site is closing the loop on a fragmented system. While the hospital system benefits economically from the service, patients benefit, and the primary care satellite site serves as a conduit for care.

I’m always thinking about the benefits of technology in enhancing the hospital and primary care systems. Imagine a doctor saying, “You know, you’ll have many questions. I will be here to help you frame your thinking around those questions. Our system has an LLM model. Let’s call it Dr. Hal. You can ask Dr. Hal every question regarding your congestive heart failure or prostate cancer. Dr. Hal is the composite wisdom of all the experts in our system and is here to address your questions.”

The creative aspect of our discipline, combined with information, is becoming a superpower. We use data to guide our supply chain resourcing and leverage information to promptly provide patients with confidence and comfort. We ensure greater access to accurate information vetted by the system, so patients do not depend solely on Dr. Google.

Wolf: The actual value of AI is knowledge management. It allows a very broad and capable synthesis of vast amounts of data and information that no human can keep up with. For example, in the 1970s, clinicians had access to three to four journals, where editors picked what was important enough to be published. These journals had to be printed and mailed out, resulting in about 400 peer-reviewed articles per year reaching healthcare professionals. If you read one a day, you could keep up. Today, more than 10,000 articles will be published this year alone. All that information, knowledge management, and sharing will occur collaboratively, and there is no way for anyone to synthesize all that.

AI plays a crucial role in operational and clinical decision support by turning information into knowledge, with recommendations that lead to changes in operations, suggestions, and care.

In clinical care, pharmacy, or whatever path you’re on, these recommendations are communicated back to physicians with an explanation of why they are a recommendation and the source of that information.

I think part of the maturity that we’re seeing, and you’ll see at HIMSS 2025, is the evolution of AI since our session three years ago. Back then, we held a session titled, “What is AI, and what does it mean?” The panel discussed its potential application in healthcare, and at that time, chat had just been introduced, and people were starting to look at it. Some people were on stage calling for a six-month hiatus before we allowed anything to go forward.

Last year, we saw glimpses of initial uses of AI being deployed operationally, albeit only in a few hospital systems. But it was beginning to happen, and we knew that AI was in the background of devices or operational considerations. Where would the benefit engines come from? The algorithms were starting to be built, and we had a particular point of looking out for biases. We started talking about biases within AI and realized that no matter what you do, there will always be some biases. It’s unavoidable. What was the source information for AI, and how do I ensure I utilize it to the best of my ability?

You’ll see the presentation of how people are using it on a scale. What are examples of its success, and what are some of its limitations? Numerous applications are set to emerge. You’re going to see them on the floor, where people are using components of AI in the background to produce better products that are more efficient and can guide operations as well as at-home care, and all those pieces are being brought forward. The common link between it and your point is on the information side of the house. How good is the starting information, and how broad does it go? Where is the opportunity from a linking standpoint?

To achieve this, a private-public partnership is essential. If you’re looking at algorithms and information that utilize global data that gets turned into global information, it has an impact. Most healthcare systems around the globe are publicly held. They’re not privately held. The United States is an aberration due to its vast amounts of privately held institutions versus publicly held ones.

Bashe:  Are you seeing more of that regarding the technology being used proactively?

Wolf: Yes, and that’s a good thing. We’ve always wanted to see that proper reimbursement takes place and proper services rendered. Many things in a system can get missed, but not an overwhelming amount.  If hospital systems perform well, they typically operate on a 2 percent to three percent margin, but many run at a loss, making proper reimbursements difficult. Large actuarial departments played a key role in the past, with various organizations providing revenue support, which was a huge thing even 15 years ago. However, over time, those efforts began to converge.

The real opportunity lies beneath the surface. It must coincide with an understanding of the care that was delivered. Right next to that benefit realization is the value proposition. What was the quality of what was rendered? Was the care appropriately given? Did we miss something in the diagnosis?

Bashe: One of the things that I worry about is not New York City or Los Angeles. Medical centers such as Mount Sinai, NYU Langone, Weil-Cornell, Columbia Presbyterian, and Memorial Sloan Kettering, much like their counterparts in Boston, Chicago, and the Bay area, provide excellent care. However, in rural America, someone can live three hours from a tertiary care center.

Your approach of using information to improve the care of almost 29 percent of the US population applies, I think, to other nations where people live far from centers of excellence. What are your thoughts about devices, wearables, remote patient monitoring and information, and protecting the information from your standpoint?

Wolf:  Wearables and home monitoring have transformed patient engagement, making health data more immediate and actionable. It’s fascinating. My wife and I compare our Oura daily. How did you sleep? How’s your heart rhythm? We’re finding the features and working through them. She lives anonymously. We are very engaged in our health. How far did we walk? What was our heart rate? Let’s do the 6-minute walk today and see. Were you snoring last night?

All of that is going on, and that’s an engagement level. The information flows from me to my ring, and then my ring says, do you want to share it with Apple? I said yes, and my wife said no; she didn’t want it to flow to another company. Apple will know how well I sleep – I don’t worry about it. If they want to dive into it, there is a profile about me and my general health. They could also derive that from the stuff I buy and the credit card information. That’s always been the case.

If you remember, back in the 1980s, we were already using demographic data with Donnelly overlays. I worked for Time Warner in the early 1990s when Time magazines were delivered to your door. The Time magazine that arrived at your next-door neighbor was different from yours—not the content, but the cover and the ads in the back. You may have gotten an ad for a sports car, and your neighbor may have gotten one for a minivan.

It was specifically designed based on the Donnelly reports, which provided insights about the household. We’re starting to shape recommendations at the personal level of the care an individual should receive.

Why wouldn’t a physician or a clinician want every piece of information on this Oura ring to be included in a patient’s profile? This information would help complete the picture needed to utilize sophisticated knowledge management systems, tapping into tens of thousands of research papers and combining that data with the person’s unique health details. The richer that information becomes, the more accurate it becomes, the more mistakes it makes, the more positively it helps the next person.

Bashe: Often, when I speak to doctors and nurses in the health system, we talk about the Electronic Medical Record (EMR). They’re candid: “We have an EMR system—it’s not perfect, we know that, and it’s getting better and better.” Yet, they often say, “Did you read that patient’s EMR data?” and then they’ll say, “I don’t have time to read the EMR.” While best practices come from committees, you play a unique role as an advisor to corporations. You’re the sounding board for major corporations, whether AWS, Epic, Microsoft, or Oracle. I’m sure they will listen to you because you’re the voice of the global community.

Wolf: We don’t have a dog in the race against them as a competitor.

Bashe: As a not-for-profit society that operates at a global NGO level, when you look at your role and the challenges you face, how does HIMSS address constant sector transformation? HIMSS and its members are constantly evolving because you represent applied information. The system is getting more interesting and more creative.

Look at the challenges that HIMSS owns and represents and your mission, which is obviously to improve access to care. As the organization’s leader, you’re clear and committed to this role, but you’ve seen difficulties implementing cultural or systemic changes.

What’s your guidance for the community? Please don’t take out a ruler and slap people on their hands. You’re obviously about supporting the system’s evolution, making it better. Can you share insights on how you’re filtering down best practices within this evolving landscape? How do you reflect on these challenges that arise and guide systems to understand that care is delivered to the front lines and is not always in hospitals? It’s specialists or primary care—physicians in their little offices worldwide.

Wolf: This is precisely what we discuss daily at HIMSS, and it’s central to our global work. Let’s walk through our view of the ecosystem and how we influence what you just related to because it’s our core.

Hospital systems – or, more importantly, governments worldwide – including our own, recognize their fundamental responsibility to care for their populations. Let’s set the United States aside for a second.

Ministries of Health in countries around the world are accountable for the well-being of their citizens. We’ll talk about citizens for a minute. The people living within their country want a healthy population, which improves the economy. They’re smart enough to know that a healthier population, or one cared for, efficiently reduces the constant increase in costs within healthcare systems. No one is looking to save money; instead, the goal is to slow the escalating costs of healthcare systems, which seem to rise every year.  

Information is the driver behind everything, but to your point, the combination of people, processes, and technology shapes the outcome. Technology is rarely an issue here; the challenge lies in implementing and changing culture. The pandemic forced a significant global cultural change, and while it may seem that it’s deeply in our rear-view mirror, its impact is still felt. Telemedicine, the idea of using information, and the idea of remote care to alleviate the pressures on the front line became a standard feature, and people recognize that.

We see the impact in our relationships with organizations like the WHO in Europe. Take Romania, for example, where we just signed an agreement to help them develop a strategic plan to deliver digital health transformation. HIMSS is focused on four major points.

1. First is digital health transformation.
2. Second is the deployment and utilization of AI as a tool.
3. Third is cyber security to protect that information and ensure that it works for the betterment of their ecosystem with less hassle.
4. Fourth is workforce development, which trains people to understand these tools before they can utilize them to their fullest extent.

Those are our four main areas. When we think about digital health transformation, we start with the HIMSS maturity models from five to seven years ago.

Back then, our maturity models were a checklist of technology. Do you have that technology? Are you wired? That used to be the baseline, what we now consider table stakes. It’s not table stakes anymore.

We’ve transformed our maturity models to reflect quality, access, correctness, and fundamental value. How are you using the information? How does it improve the flow?

From an IT standpoint, we began looking at our maturity models like a stack. It starts with the information layer. What does the infrastructure look like? How is it laid out? How does your data need to be laid out? Where does the electronic medical record go on top of that? How do those two pieces feed into each other? How do you utilize the radiology and the pictures that are in there? How does that flow? What’s your analytical layer? How does this work?

Where are you getting your information, and how are you handling your analytics? How does that tie itself back into the infrastructure? How does that information flow from your reporting back into your EMR and the data layer? How does that data layer tie in when discussing the imaging ecosystem? What’s your continuity of care, the CCMM? How does it flow across the board to ensure you’re not dropping a patient?

We’ve created a stack of maturity models that form the foundation of how information flows from the patient across hospitals, clinics, and homes, wherever the case is provided, to ensure you can keep up with them. And we present these maturity models not just as a technology checklist. Anyone can do that—it’s not meaningless—but anyone can do that. The true focus is on how you use these technologies.

How do you ensure that the relationship between the patient and pharmacy utilization, as well as the benefit realization, is maintained? And how does all this tie together?

Whether it’s community service, a hospital system, or a home, what we’ve created in those stacks is a blueprint that any hospital system, country, or large-scale region can use to identify the technology needed and deploy it for its maximum benefit. 

People do assessments in hospital systems. For HIMSS members in the United States, these assessments are part of the membership, allowing them unlimited access to evaluate their systems. They can conduct these assessments online, check their status, and aim for levels 6 and 7, which is when all those benefits kick in. That’s when we do our validations.

We also do white papers, thought leadership, and HIMSS events, panels and educational programs. More than 300 academic programs are coming up at HIMSS in 2025, with more than 150 offering CE credits.

But these experiences are all based on the output, what worked, and what didn’t work. As you know, learning from others’ mistakes is just as valuable as learning from their successes. Some of the most impactful lessons come from those who try something, fail, and then fix it.

That’s where HIMSS and advisory services come in. We’re presenting the aggregated global knowledge of what’s working and what isn’t.

Most ecosystems don’t work the same way the United States does because most don’t have the same amount of money invested in it. We draw from many healthcare systems- from the U.S., to Romania, Italy, Germany, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. We learn from all these countries, bring it together in our membership, and figure out what we have learned. How does it impact the models? We do these reviews in a constant session. That’s how we make the society work.

Bashe: It’s a brilliant use of human capital and composite wisdom. As we’re gearing toward the end of our conversation, I wanted to ask you about the Emerge Innovation Experience– this is a first-time gathering, but the concept of start-ups at HIMSS is nothing new. What’s different now is that you’ve recognized that start-ups are a unique culture with unique needs. You’ve assembled a cohort of leaders dedicated to helping these start-ups succeed. What are your expectations from Emerge?

Wolf: First, I’m very interested in the outcome of Emerge. This is the first time that we’re going to try to bring that mesh point I mentioned earlier, where innovations meet operations. They’ve chosen some excellent examples of what can come forward. I think it’s got the right practicality and innovative forethought. From what I’ve heard from people involved in it and talking to people on the committee, I’ve listened to everything from “Wow! This is fantastic and very innovative!” to “It could have been stronger.”

If I talk to heavy innovator startups, they reply that it doesn’t go far enough and could be really “wow.” Meanwhile, those focused on operations often reply that it’s “really pushing the edge.” What that tells me is that it’s in the right mesh point.

What I’m curious to see is how it is received. Many smart people have been working on it, focusing on what will have the biggest impact on operations and be ready for prime time tomorrow, especially in areas like AI utilization and operational impact. What is one step beyond? We also have an incubator ecosystem there.

The Emerge Innovation Experience will be unique, and I look forward to that outcome.

Bashe: I always value your candor.

Wolf: Sometimes, I can get criticized for it, but I believe in absolute transparency. The beautiful part about thought leadership is that we share these thoughts, which makes HIMSS thrive. Transparency is a strength in a positive society. If we’re not transparent with each other, we can’t advance. My grandfather taught me a long time ago that the three most essential phrases in business are “I don’t know, I’ll find out, and I’ll get back to you.” “I don’t know” is critically important.

What’s beautiful about healthcare is that you learn something new every day. It’s impossible to be in the health sector without learning something new every day unless you don’t ask a single question, read nothing, or stay in a room and shut the door.  

Just today, I learned something about HIMSS. I didn’t know because I was asking about a process. A question was raised, and I followed the thread through the organization and found one I’d never seen before, which was exciting.

I appreciate the philosophical and real questions you’re asking. We’re excited about HIMSS 2025 and the learning opportunities it will offer. It’s also about the big picture of what’s happening globally. We call it the Global Conference because it brings together Ministries of Health and NGOs worldwide. It all comes together. This is our largest membership meeting, and we’re thrilled that there’s at least a 35% increase in people signing up for HIMSS membership compared to last year.

Bashe: I’ll be attending this year. As always, thank you for the in-depth exchange. *****

In this insightful conversation, Hal Wolf, President and CEO of HIMSS, explores the critical forces shaping the sector’s future. As industry and governments navigate a rapidly evolving policy landscape under a new administration’s eyes, hospital systems, startups and policymakers must adapt to changing regulations, funding challenges, and digital transformation. Wolf highlights HIMSS’ role as a global leader in uniting a diverse ecosystem to advance health equity, interoperability, and patient-centered care.

A key theme of the discussion is how data and AI are transforming payer, provider and product innovation operations – how information can improve people’s lives. Wolf explains how AI-driven predictive models are integrated to optimize patient care and resource allocation. However, he also warns of ethical concerns—such as the potential for financial-driven decision-making that could prioritize revenue over patient needs. HIMSS plays a vital role in ensuring there is a balance between digital health innovation aligns with quality care and equitable access.

As digital tools, AI, and large language models (LLMs) become more integrated into healthcare, Wolf and Bashe discuss how these advancements can empower providers and patient-enhancing decision-making, improving operational efficiency and offering trusted, system-vetted health information.

As HIMSS prepares for its annual global conference, Wolf emphasizes its role in shaping industry priorities. HIMSS is not just an event; it’s a society that defines strategies, policies, and innovations that drive the future of health. With an expanding ecosystem of startups and industry veterans, HIMSS remains a pivotal force in bridging technology, policy and patient care.

The post The Future of Health Information and Innovation: A Conversation with HIMSS CEO Hal Wolf appeared first on Medika Life.

Health system CFOs across the country face a unique quandary. Operating margins remain low, staffing shortages restrict services, industry-wide buying power is waning, organizational credit ratings are at risk, and inflation rapidly affects reimbursement and patient affordability. From the CFO’s point of view, it is prudent to look toward other industries and adopt a holistic approach to managing their organizations’ financial health.

The following seven habits can be employed by health system CFOs leading through turbulent economic times:

Embrace Adaptation in the Post-Pandemic Era

The pandemic disrupted traditional operations, requiring a departure from established norms. In this post-pandemic era, CFOs must acknowledge that returning to the pre-pandemic status quo is not feasible. Rising labor costs and supply chain challenges in the face of capped payor contracts demand fresh strategies. Relying solely on traditional approaches and partners in this new environment will not work. To remain effective, CFOs and their operational leaders must lead their organizations in adapting to the new post-pandemic reality.

Repurpose Savings for Clinical Impact

Non-clinical departments often struggle to inspire clinicians, but CFOs can bridge this gap by strategically connecting clinical goals with repurposed savings from overhead departments. Healthcare leaders should embrace innovative cost-saving approaches, such as considering non-clinical spending as a strategic category of costs to negotiate. CFOs can funnel those savings back into the clinical environment, easing pressure on physicians and nurses and enhancing patient care. An annual habit of exploring non-clinical spending to fund clinical initiatives can pay off for both resources and morale.

Shift from Volume to Efficiency

The age-old adage “volume is everything” in healthcare may not go away entirely, but it is evolving. CFOs increasingly steer their organizations toward cost-efficient practices rather than merely focusing on volume growth. Shifting performance measures from volume to efficiency is worthwhile, even if it is a departure from traditional thinking. This habit is needed as the industry acknowledges the importance of cost-effective care delivery—and the value within risk-based payment programs.

Execute Beyond Technology

Technological solutions typically rely on business cases and aim to provide essential tools for modern operations. However, this technology assessment must go beyond adoption and implementation. The true value lies in the execution of the solution and the insights gained from its use and performance. Sound systems require good data to meet their potential. As an example, a national home goods retailer conducted an RFP and needs assessment for its 1,200-truck delivery fleet. The organization derived information to extend the contract with a current vendor. The negotiation resulted in over $1.8M in savings through invoice credits, cash retention bonuses, and contracted cost savings. Most notably, the negotiation never disrupted distribution. The habit of “focus and finish”—connecting technology with non-tech performance measures—ensures that insights are effectively translated into actionable strategies. The discipline to perform a rigorous “look back” analysis on major technology investments is essential to achieving the promised ROI.

Embrace Data and Strategies Beyond Your Four Walls

There is a world of insights and opportunities beyond the healthcare industry. Although healthcare is unique compared to other industries, there are insights and lessons to be learned from looking at how business is conducted outside of healthcare. For example, wouldn’t a hospital want to know what the local university pays for groundskeeping in the same city? What about bank processing and other financial fees? In one case, the CFO of a big-box retailer looked beyond the industry for insights and saved over $10M by uncovering overcharged credit card processing fees that had slipped past their internal process for more than four years. With this information, the CFO and team negotiated a refund of the fees and all credit card agreements.

Knowledge sharing across industries can be valuable for all organizations. The habit of expanding a network of partners and collaborating with businesses outside the industry can provide fresh perspectives and solutions, which ultimately benefit the health system’s financial performance.

Question the Status Quo

CFOs should embrace the habit of challenging industry norms and targets. It’s a requirement to push change management boundaries in pursuit of effective solutions. One industry norm worth challenging is the singular reliance on group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to aid in spend analysis and negotiations. With GPOs addressing only 25% of non-clinical spending, there is an excellent opportunity to address cost savings in these categories. Unlike direct clinical spending, health systems compete with all industries to secure optimal non-clinical product and service contracts. Leading companies outside healthcare often devote more time and resources to secure better contracts. Continually setting the bar higher—to renegotiate contracts, adopt cutting-edge technology, or pursue innovative partnerships—can drive tangible results and transform the financial trajectory of health systems, no longer leaving money on the table.

Manage Non-Clinical Costs Proactively

Non-clinical cost allocation, akin to investments in a personal portfolio, requires constant monitoring and adjustment. CFOs should adopt a proactive habit of managing non-clinical costs that consume approximately 20% of revenue. By acknowledging the dynamic nature of healthcare finances, CFOs position their organizations for financial success. Also, the CFO can no longer assume that existing structures and partners are sufficient to control these non-clinical costs. Research shows that 75% of non-clinical spending falls outside GPO and procurement contracts. With today’s financial challenges, this leaves a gap in controls that must be addressed. The habit of managing non-clinical costs proactively pays off.

Proactive management of v costs has been proven to result in favorable contracts and significant savings in both annual direct costs and signing bonuses. This outcome was demonstrated by a discount retailer that conducted an RFP and needs assessment with their 10-year incumbent Warranty provider. The proactive assessment resulted in a more favorable contract with higher vendor engagement and training support from a new vendor. Beyond the service value, the resulting savings were $4M in annual direct costs and a $4M signing bonus in the contract’s first year, with the new vendor covering all transition costs.

Today, the role of a health system CFO extends beyond traditional financial management. CFO leadership requires a blend of strategic vision, adaptability, and innovative thinking about benchmarking and managing change. CFOs who embrace these seven habits can navigate the healthcare industry’s challenges in a post-pandemic economic climate, foster financial resilience, and ultimately contribute to enhanced patient care, organizational success, and highly competitive service delivery.

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Special thanks to co-author Mark Van Sumeren, who has more than 40 years of experience in healthcare strategy, operations, and supply chain management. As the General Manager of the healthcare practice at LogicSource, he spearheads cost-savings initiatives within nonclinical healthcare supply chains. Previously Mark held senior executive positions at Owens & Minor, Ernst & Young, and Detroit Medical Center, collaborating with major integrated delivery networks and academic medical centers to enhance operational efficiency and supply chain practices. 

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Medika Life will be on-hand and covering this gathering – meeting with attendees and sharing highlights from the conversations. Hear from Amir why this gathering – with more than 100 speakers – should be on your calendar of 2024 meetings to attend.

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But what would I do if I could only attend one and not the other?  Sorry, you’ll have to crystal ball that answer. 

I’m dedicated to health innovation that can improve people’s health.  I recognize that the fragmented health ecosystem creates a self-inflicted system-wide chaos that diminishes the provider’s ability to help people seeking healing. It results in patients having to re-tell their medical narrative again and again to each health provider they engage.  It leads people needing preventive or follow-on care to fall through system cracks.  It means that people most at risk due to enduring and unjust health disparities are left to wither.  That injustice pains and angers me.

The Business of Industry Conferences

Who doesn’t have FOMO – the fear of missing out – as we see the explosion of selfies on LinkedIn, X, Thread and Instagram of industry friends and colleagues and realize we’re not among Nick Adkins’ #Pinksocks or Swaay Health group photo glam? It’s like being invited to a hot party, not showing up, only to hear later that it was “incredible” and how we missed out. That’s life. Even Bruce Wayne and Batman can’t be in the same place simultaneously.

Industry gatherings – conferences, summits, and meet-ups – are revenue-generating businesses, from selling lanyards to exhibit costs to sponsoring satellite sessions.  To accommodate attendees, the companies that organize these mammoth events need to drive efficiency to reach profitability.  They need to inform and entertain. Don’t begrudge them the right to make money – sustainable gatherings lead to enduring communities.  We all benefit from the consistent, collaborative exchange.

Logistics are Often Planned Years in Advance

These meetings are geo-positioned corresponding to audience size, and space is secured many years and years in advance.  HIMSS is a 36,000-person gathering.  In the United States, only three venues can likely accommodate that meeting size: Orlando, Chicago, and Las Vegas.  ViVE has almost 8,000 attendees, more location flexibility, and wisely, it is heading back to Nashville – the nation’s capital of health provider services.  As businesses, their timing depends on the competitive strategy to attract sponsors, speakers and attendees. Retaining attendees annually creates a powerful magnet to draw in others – friends of friends.

ViVE, only three years old, is a hit. The blend of major sessions held within the exhibit hall, evening social events, and size speak to people’s need to connect with thought leaders and find a place within the CHIME/ViVE community.

Competitive or Different Missions 

Our mindsets are too often structured to pit one against the other.  Don’t go there. These two health industry gatherings are very different in rationale, structure, duration of time, and desired outcome. I don’t favor one over the other and schedule for both.  Imagine if we started to choose among ATA, HIMSS, SXSW, and ViVE.  

It’s an interesting polemic – especially if you only have the budget to attend one or two of these gatherings.  If budget and time demand, I recommend picking two to three and investing your time in cementing a network of advisors, mentors, and community.  [NOTE: I tend to center my meeting schedule around CNS Summit, HIMSS, HITLAB, HLTH, and ViVE – though I attend others such as the Digital Health & AI Innovation Summit.]

Keep in mind the top speakers rotate among all these gatherings. It is their responsibility as institutional thought leaders to share their wisdom.  So, we must listen to and learn from leaders such as Rasu Shrestha, MD, Walter Greenleaf, Ph.D., or Tom Lawry, who are likely to attend or speak at many of these gatherings.  However, the attendees and the call-to-action required determine their message flow and should set your scheduling priorities.  

ViVE draws me in due to its intimacy and community.  Like CNS Summit (Collaborate for Novel Solutions), ViVe is “right-sized” to rub shoulders with key colleagues, move swiftly from session to session, and have an exhibit floor that doesn’t require cutting through the jungle.  It is a magnet for like-minded digital health grass-tops leaders who want to check in and connect about how the system can better align workflow processes.  Clear process results in better (health-system) performance.

Digital health in itself is misunderstood.  Apps and wearables are the tip of the information iceberg.  It is about digitizing the health system overall and connecting the provider system to the consumer – seamless care.  That remains an enormous undertaking for an industry sector that still clings to the old ways, like a three-year-old to a beloved teddy bear, despite being told to abandon its treasured fax machines.  Digital encompasses how we will deploy AI, ChatGPT and GenAI to improve workflow.  It demands that we position health equity as the core priority of these efforts.  It considers how we can connect consumers to their providers confidently and well within HIPAA parameters.

I like ViVE for many reasons – mainly because I can enter into conversations with people seasoned enough to influence corporate strategy or at least inspire each other and are eager to learn and hear from others who care equally about the patient experience.  I think ViVE enables attendees to revisit critical elements of the health system that determine business success. Don’t ever underestimate reflection. The CHIME/ViVE connection offers added value and brings a strong community mindset.

HIMSS is the Davos of Health Information

HIMSS is a 70-year-old society with 125,000 members worldwide.  Since 1962, it has held an annual global meeting, part of a bigger effort to serve patients by democratizing information with best-practice standards.

“HIMSS is where big ideas are discussed, innovation is created, and professionals make the connections that will change the future of healthcare. From the engineers and developers building new solutions to the technology leaders guiding health systems through major challenges like the ethical use of AI and cybersecurity, HIMSS conferences are a meeting of the minds that will create tomorrow’s health,” said Christine Buck, HIMSS chief marketing officer.

Yet, the HIMSS conference is much more than scale – 36,000 people focused on health information. It’s about where these attendees come from and their determination to shape health access and delivery standards.  They hail from 70 countries, and their titles range from Health Minister of Korea to call center manager from South Dakota.  They’re wearing US Armed Forces non-commissioned officer to bird colonel military ranks or t-shirts and jeans from the top dogs at global giants like CISCO, EPIC and Microsoft to health tech start-ups.

“My favorite part? The authentic, genuine, and casual nature of interactions with other humans in the health industry who are navigating the mutual hallways of mixed indifference and passion — the marketing formality gives way to our better nature of connection and collaboration,” says Matt Cybulsky Ph.D., host of edgy The Digital Health Roundtable.

HIMSS is a moving city, and expect to cover your step goal during its five-day 8 AM to 6 PM schedule, including hundreds of sessions curated, tracked, and peer-reviewed by HIMSS-member volunteers.  Along with a bolus of professional development, there are key NGO moments where government leaders announce new international health information management agreements. HIMSS is a society that encompasses best-practice solutions, professional development and public policy.

For example, during the meeting, Hal Wolf, president and CEO of HIMSS, and Geun Chan Lim, CEO of Korea Health Information Service, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) cementing a three-year relationship between HIMSS and the Republic of Korea for Electronic Medical Record adoption in hospitals throughout the country.  HIMSS transcends the definition of a meeting; it’s a professional society that works across industries and countries.

“HIMSS conferences and events provide our membership – and all our attendees – with unrivaled access to best-in-class thought leaders, educational programming, and groundbreaking speakers. HIMSS24 helped drive awareness of pressing health equity issues and social determinants of health while also creating a space for everyone from CIOs to nurses to build connections and collaborate,” adds Buck.

Apples or Oranges?

The idiom comparing two dissimilar objects was originally apples to oysters.  Things change over time. Originator John Ray penned his thoughts in a collection of sayings in 1670.  It wasn’t a competition between two fruits but a reminder that they’re different, so don’t compare. 

I was at ViVE.  I was at HIMSS. I value lessons learned – albeit different – from both.  Apples and oranges.  I like them both.

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Medika Life was given an opportunity to interview four HIMSS leaders – to hear more about plans for the Orlando global meeting and the priorities staff embrace year-round. It was clear that HIMSS staff see their roles as a professional responsibility and largely a public health mission.

Here are the #HIMSS24 Content Highlights:

• HIMSS Connect
• Keynotes
• Policy Issues
• Nursing and Informatics
• Start-Ups & Entrepreneurs

Gil Bashe, Editor-in-Chief, Medika Life: The health industry has many essential trade associations of different types that we know of.  PhRMA and BIO, and to some extent, HIMSS, could be seen that way, but it has grassroots membership. There are certainly very senior people in our industry who are HIMSS members. You could say HIMSS has grassroots and grasstops affiliations.

HIMSS – NOW 125,000 Strong

Christine Buck, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, HIMSS:  Yes.  That’s right.  Let me offer context for Medika Life readers about HIMSS.  HIMSS is a 60-year-old organization and a global society that has evolved and changed.  It’s inspiring to see our community working to find solutions, thinking together as opposed to thinking in silos. And that’s what we need. We need to be the bridge. We need to be a transparent provider of democratized information.

Our membership has grown to more than 125,000 members. We landed on “Creating Tomorrow’s Health” because we are about the future, about bringing together individuals who care about generative AI and the patient. This is the difference between where we think about solutions not for the sake of an organization but the ultimate audience we all serve – patients. So that’s an exciting responsibility.

Bashe: I would very much appreciate knowing a bit about the fact that when we get together in two weeks in Orlando, some of the policy conversations will occur, from modernizing HIPAA to cyber security aspects. HIMSS is at the forefront of community building. It also tries to create a safe environment so that information can be used to improve the human condition. Could you share a little bit about that?

Tom Leary, SVP, Head of Government Relations, HIMSS:  Our policy initiatives are set by the board of directors and society members.  We are focusing on health equity. Everything needs to be pointed toward health equity so that we can leverage technology and data science to improve the human condition you’re talking about.

Specifically, concerning global conferences, we’re anticipating a lot of conversations in several key areas.

Artificial intelligence has just overtaken all the discussions around public policy. Several camps are starting to form. Some think AI is the panacea for the patient’s condition, provider burden, or any other categories we might want to discuss or that stakeholders might want to discuss.  The other camp is the fearful individuals- whether AI is taking their jobs or AI is making decisions where providers are not in the middle. It’s those kinds of conversations around artificial intelligence that we anticipate having.

Cyber security and data privacy.  The more that health care remains in the top five targeted sectors, we would fully anticipate a lot of conversation around how to maintain a high degree of vigilance and preparedness, and, quite frankly, both policymakers and our members want to talk about it, such as  “What do you know that I need to know so that I can better prepare my organization against a cyber-attack?”

Data modernization is a third key area for us that we anticipate a lot of dialogue on, particularly from the US perspective. What we saw from the global pandemic was a borderless global issue. Much investment in some areas, particularly in the clinical setting around technology advancements, resulted in excellent preparedness. However, we are still dealing with many paper-based approaches in the realm of public health and population health. So, how do you modernize the public health community?  We are facilitating ideas and conversations to address global public health priorities.

We’re very excited. A critical development in the last 48 hours is that the CDC Director, Dr. Mandy Cohen, will be the first CDC Director and, in close to 15 years, the only Director to address any HIMSS audience. More specifically, the top session that she’ll be sharing with the office of the National Coordinator is on the whole issue of data monetization. Those are three key areas that we’re looking at, particularly from a conference perspective. We can also get into some other year-round topics.

Challenges of Technology Linked to Patient Care

Bashe: I will want someone to address year-round topics because I see the annual meeting as the beginning or culmination of the year. I do have a question regarding innovation because we often talk about information. Still, I often find that many people from the digital health innovation sector attend HIMSS annually and at the national meeting.

Some of them come from chief technology offices or chief information offices or people involved in information services, or they’re people developing systems in terms of augmented intelligence or Chat GPT, the application of higher technologies to synthesize information.

Other people are looking at the integration of tools. Smart wearables, all these intelligent applications. I would very much appreciate your perspective as HIMSS leaders in talking a little bit about the role that HIMSS plays in supporting digital health innovation that collects and shares information.

Toni Laracuente, Senior Vice President & Global Head of Analytics, HIMSS:  My background in the clinical space is as a thoracic ICU nurse, which was my specialty for many years, and then I moved into quality improvements and Hospital Administration.

In the early days of electronic medical records, what you just described with nurses saying, “Oh, I don’t have time to look at that,” those were kind of the dark days of digital health, when systems were designed primarily as billing systems or departmental systems that were very focused on billing but had limited functionality and workflow process for the clinician, for the nurses, the doctors, physical therapists, and any other kind of ancillary professional service the patient may encounter.

Our practice within HIMSS analytics is genuinely focused on digital transformation. When I say digital transformation, I’m talking about the innovative, intentional, and clinically designed use of data and technology systems.

But people first, tech last. We look at people, processing data, and then technology because our approach is for digital transformation to be successful; it has to be person-centric and focused on the needs of the people who will be using and experiencing that technology.

It’s not a “one size fits all”.  The work we do with our digital maturity adoption models – you may have heard of the MRAM and ERAM adoption models. That’s the most well-known. But we have digital maturity models that span the entire care continuum. Suppose you consider any care delivery environment where a person may seek and access health care. In that case, our maturity models can assist and provide guidance and strategy for the digital transformation of those care delivery environments. The focus is on the person-centric or the patient-centric digital health ecosystem.

That is one of the presentations I’ll give at the global conference. It’s the use of digital maturity and digital transformation to build a person-centric digital health ecosystem. It needs to be a seamless process from the first encounter to the end of the encounter, from Pre-Natal right through to the End of Life.

Most importantly, it has to work seamlessly for everybody coming into contact with the system. So, that means using innovative technology. But the technology needs to work in the background. Then, the people using that technology can focus on their jobs. And we don’t have those situations where the nurses say, “Well, I don’t have time to read a digital health record.”

The response should be: “That is a tool that enables me to do my job so much better because I have access to the information that I need when and where I need it.” And the same is true for anybody, whether that’s the patient, the patient’s family, the physician, or any other healthcare provider.

Our maturity models are the focus of our work. All our maturity models have eight stages, and in the very beginning, at that stage of 0, 1, 2, which is pretty much where 95% of US and global healthcare systems sit in that early stage of digital maturity.

We often encounter process automation in some ways, but not digital transformation. Our tools and methodologies are designed to guide organizations from that piecemeal, fragmented use of technology and healthcare delivery to digital transformation, where you start at Pre-Natal and go through End of Life.

Leary: Regarding innovation, we’re very excited to have the ARAPH, the new Advanced Research Program Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which is a bipartisan development. They have about $2.5 billion that they want to spend on innovation, and they have a mandate to get the word out. Their deputy director is coming to the global conference to educate the healthcare community, from startups to large organizations, and to work with them.

Innovation can be stretched; what’s the next version of innovation in healthcare? They must find those innovative thoughts and voices and adequately fund them in a tight budgetary environment. Here in the US, they have $2.5 billion. And it’s a bipartisan belief that we need to continue to invest in that kind of approach.

It’s very similar to what happened with the 21st Century Cures Act. ARPA-H is new, and we’re very excited to have their senior officials there with us in the meeting with the startups and large organizations.

Global Meeting Hosting Government Leaders

Buck: I want to add that we have the South Korean Minister of Health is expected to attend, and representatives from Samsung Medical Center, which you’re going to be hearing a lot more about in terms of the innovation that they’re driving as a Stage 7 hospital system, but the message and the outcomes that they are going is a great touchpoint for all organizations around the world.

Bashe: To your point about the South Korean Minister of Health coming. It’s truly a global meeting, although it’s hosted in the United States.  

Hong Kong spends about 6 to 7% of its GDP on Health. They live about 15 years longer than we do in the United States. One of the things I find hopeful is that when I’m visiting and speaking to colleagues in other nations, most health information is digitized, consumers have their health records, and they are moveable.

Christine, to your point: when you and the senior staff are dealing with members of other governments worldwide, I imagine you’re serving an unofficial diplomatic role for the US health system with other people interested in sharing best practices. Could you give a glimmer about your global insights of not just dealing with the membership of HIMSS? I think you said there are 125,000 members now.

Buck: Toni, when you were speaking, the individuals in HIMSS come from a technology background; I have a FinTech background, and Toni is an actual patient care advocate. Everyone is invested in some way.  Hal Wolf, our CEO and President, is a person who works toward democratizing information between countries, dignitaries, and organizations, and that, to me, is a profound shift where we’re not keeping the information in for our benefit or someone else.

Our senior team comprises practitioners and developers of these new ideas, drawing ideas from the entire HIMSS staff and community. They’re leading panels like Toni or developing products.

Leary: The excellent collaboration between our organization and your experience has been so helpful to my growth—the beauty of what’s happening at global conferences. Perhaps we’ll get as high as 80 countries this year. They’re all searching for that digital health transformation approach, and sharing what they’ve learned and lessons they could learn from others is the key to the conference conversation and throughout the year.

The world looks at the 10-year investment that the United States made in digital health transformation, from 2010 through 2021, in the Medicaid/Medicare providers and all the providers that updated their systems. When the pandemic hit the United States, for all its politics around vaccination and immunization, aside from that, the United States was technologically ready to layer on telehealth services and various capabilities such as data and analytics because they’ve invested.

What we’re seeing in different parts of the world is curiosity about how the US did it, what kind of investment is needed, and what you would avoid if you were to do it again.

The Germans, for example, last year held a very impactful conversation with several members of the US Government on “If you had to do meaningful use over again, what would you do differently?” and struggling with the issue of not only provider burden but providers and patients “opt-in opt-out” of a program, whether it’s somewhere in Europe or Asia, or Central and South America.

They all want to get to that transformation—part of this conversation we’ll be having at our second Ministerial summit. Several years ago, we experienced the Minister of Tajikistan in one room, and the Columbian Minister of Health was in the next room, and they didn’t interact.

What we designed last year and again this year is a Ministerial Summit to talk about health equity, technology, and some of the capabilities we can all embrace as a community.

We’re expecting senior leaders from between 15 and 20 countries to sit around a table for two hours on Wednesday afternoon and continue the conversation into the evening at the international reception. They have those leaders together, talking about the vision for the future.

Bashe: The NGO element of HIMSS comes across. It’s a membership-based NGO. You are trying to advance collaboration and standards around how information can improve people’s lives and be somewhat universal. A nation’s borders do not trap information, and information shared can accelerate our understanding of how to deal with everything, from social determinants of health to the cost of health to the efficient use of health personnel, all that is driven by information. HIMSS is a depository of how processes impact performance in terms of health information. Would that be accurate?

Preparing for the Next Pandemic

Leary: That’s absolutely part of what we’ve seen over the last couple of years, which is that information sharing helps to advance not only individual countries but regional and global initiatives. The conversation that we had around the European health data spaces they developed for the EU was a big piece of legislation. There was concern that individual countries would be able to lock down their data.

If that is the case, what happened with the pandemic? What was the response to the pandemic, where data on COVID-19 from the early days of Asia would not have made their way to Europe, the United States, the Americas, and Africa? Researchers were able to work together because the data flowed from place to place, turning it into actionable information and vaccination and policies.

Suppose we don’t have those global dialogues around the power of the data and turning it into actionable information. In that case, you don’t have that kind of rapid response in a global pandemic.

Bashe:  As the HIMSS C-suite team, you’re part of a bigger puzzle. Your pieces have to align together, and I appreciate that. But regarding your mandate responsibility to the HIMSS community, could you share an expectation or hope you’d like to see come out of the upcoming meeting?

Buck:  My expectation and hope are that we create the energy for people to not just convene at one moment in time for a few days, but that it carries on 365 days a year and that we also create a stronger connection to the value that HIMSS bring to members, to organizational affiliates, to providers and patients. My goal is to get the human message out there and have all the passion and hard work come out from the team you see here and everyone who attends and creates that community.

Jim Burnett, Vice President, Engagement Strategies, HIMSS: HIMSS is an entire constellation involving research, analytics, government relations, professional development, and our chapter community. What we have is this community, which offers a wealth of engagement opportunities. In going through the study of all our different member communities, what I’m finding most clear is we need to draw people into that community from this important event. They need to come into the government relations group from the government; they need to go into the analytic tool sets to roadmap their digital transformation.

At the event, I hope our broader community is getting a lot more exposure and that we are helping people understand that it’s not this point in time. It’s not this individual session that you’re sitting in. It starts there and then crawls through that spider web through all these other supportive products and services that come out with the association.

Bashe: I notice that HIMSS members are deeply committed to the organization. It’s not like I’m sending in my annual check; they feel that by being a member of HIMSS, they are part of that conversation, part of the process of the evolution of the system, of how the information will be used.

Jim Burnett, how much of your role is spent in terms of looking at member retention and member acquisition, but also making sure that people understand the culture, the inherent values of HIMSS, and the responsibility that HIMSS feels in terms of how the information will be used to improve the health system?

Burnett: It’s about the overall value driven by the community and the collaboration. Most hospital systems aren’t in competition with one another. It’s the rising tide lifting all boats. To ensure that all these voices are heard, that their case studies are involved in our research, that their voices are indeed heard in the community, and that they can share their best practices.

That is the actual value of that community piece. It’s not necessarily the most prominent voices. You need to be able to pull from the corners of the room, draw people out, and get their perspectives on the conversation. I think that’s a critical point.

Professional Development to Initiatives on the Hill

Bashe: It’s not about digitally emailing your membership that their dues are up. Tom, how big is your policy team?

Leary: Our policy team is seven people. We deputize everyone on this screen, the rest of the organization, and the membership, so our policy team is 125,000 people. We’re seven staff. It’s a good thing.

Bashe: Is there a piece of legislation or conversation you and the team are hyper-focused on right now? What do you feel concerns the American health system here in the US?

Leary: We’re very focused on proper Office of National Coordinator funding.  They haven’t had a reasonable budget since their first year. They’re the little agency that can. 

There are two other pieces of legislation that we’re pounding on for this year. One is the telehealth provisions from the pandemic, which were extended through December of this year. And we’re working across the coalition to make that policy permanent. We’ve seen the benefit of telehealth. We’ve all benefited from it. The greater access and better healthcare outcomes. Those were set to go back to March 12, 2020, in terms of policy structure if we don’t make that policy permanent.

Laracuente: From an analytics product perspective, we are launching our newest digital maturity model, the infrastructure adoption model, and that launch is happening at our booth at 4 pm on Tuesday.

We’ve invested heavily in completely rewriting and modernizing this model. Throughout this session, we discussed using artificial intelligence, cyber security, and technology infrastructure. Overarching the in-frame model enables an organization to manage the risk of having technology. Financial risk, data, security, and privacy risk. And the risk that comes with user adoption and getting the greatest return on investment.

We’re launching that. But from an all-encompassing digital health ecosystem view. I love that you started this conversation by discussing the connections between patients with health problems. Jim mentioned that hospitals work together to try to lift each other in healthcare. When we look at health outcomes, all of the work we do in digital transformation is focused on improving the health of populations everywhere.

Part of what I’m touching on in my presentation on Tuesday is – are you familiar with the quintuple-

aim of health from public health improvement? Everything we do is focused on improving population health outcomes. Still, worldwide health care is focused on that overarching premise of the quintuple aim – improving access to care, improving patient experience, workforce experience, health, equity, reducing costs, and enhancing value for money.

We’re positioning our work in digital transformation and the maturity models in alignment with that. We’re very focused on how the digital security models deliver health outcomes and how those outcomes contribute to our provider organizations achieving success across those five domains of the quintuple.

You mentioned innovation earlier, and one thing that I wanted to touch on is when it comes to artificial intelligence, there’s a lot of discussion and hype around it, i.e., AI will take our jobs in healthcare. That couldn’t be further from the truth. AI will help us do our jobs much better, the jobs we’re all here to do, and why we get out of bed every day.

AI Will Unleash Waves of Practical Applications that Improve Patient Care

Bashe: There was a recent trending piece in Medika Life about pathologists and AI that reduces their attention when they feel they have more specificity and improve accuracy.

Laracuente: AI is perfectly positioned to do that when we look at the HIMSS mission around equity and health outcomes. I always start any conversation about AI and the workforce with the premise that AI will not replace healthcare providers or physicians. However, the physicians who use AI to do their jobs better and more efficiently will replace those who don’t.

Bashe:  The technology of the horseless carriage replaced blacksmiths through time. Technology has replaced professionals. I know that that’s very true. Humanity wins, hands down. It is unleashing as Innovation Theorist John Nosta proclaims, “the cognitive age.” Open-minded people who can hone their curiosity and ask the right questions will be valuable. Those who can’t put two words together will be in trouble.

Buck: That’s what I love about HIMSS – we’re substantive. We’re the real deal. We’re not fly by night. I love that about this whole conversation, but the entire organization and our community worldwide are the substantive providers of the suitable types of information people seek.

Bashe:  Everything is rooted in information. How we respect information, access it, and democratize it is essential. HIMSS is in incredible hands thanks to your collaborative leadership.  Thank you for sharing these thoughts and essential priorities for improved healthcare access and delivery to Medika Life readers.  I’m looking forward to continuing this conversation in Orlando.

Here is a special preview of the “Health Unabashed” interview with HIMSS CEO and President Hal Wolf on Healthcare NOW Radio from Monday, March 11th to Sunday evening, March 24th.

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Special thanks to Albe Zakes, HIMSS Director, Corporate Communications for facilitating this conversation with HIMSS leadership.

The post Exclusive Medika Conversation with HIMSS Top Leadership – Inside Scoop on Key 2024 Priorities appeared first on Medika Life.

We may be spending too much time singing the praises of the tech and less time exploring how to deploy these channels and resolve long-tolerated problems. We may be overly impressed by their engineering marvel and less centered on democratizing information to tackle health equity disparities. Some health payers and provider systems are using AI to pump the breaks on authorizations when the bigger issue is whether those that need preventive and engaged care gain prompt access. Efficiency without effectiveness limits AI’s great possibilities.

HIMSS leaders are asking these questions. They are tapping into global experts in information management, cybersecurity, patient engagement, upskilling health provider system IT teams, discussing policies with government leaders worldwide and much, much more. If you thought HIMSS was a colossus annual meeting – a party for health IT pros, think again! HIMSS CEO Hal Wolf and his staff are passionate about how information creates informed (and accurate) decisions. Their roles within this global society hold great influence and they understand that with responsibility comes accountability.

I had the opportunity to meet with the HIMSS leadership team for an upcoming feature and conduct a special radio interview for Healthcare Now Radio network on Health Unabashed with the HIMSS CEO. Here’s the preview. My full and candid conversation with Hal and Executive Producer Gregg Masters will air starting Monday, March 11th starting 10AM, three times daily for two weeks.

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But let’s not forget that three years ago – just as then-President Trump was announced as the HIMSS keynote – COVID ripped across the world.  In 2020, at the 12^th hour, HIMSS decided to cancel the Davos of health information and digital health for the first time in more than half a century.  In the days preceding the decision, many of us were on pins and needles waiting for the shoe to drop finally – and it did after mega exhibitors pulled out to protect their staff and Florida shut down to the outside world.

How Three Years Changed Mindsets or Not?

Much has changed in those three years. The former president has been indicted; COVID has supposedly been tamed; big exhibitors with 40 by 40 space return to the rightful places at Chicago’s McCormick Convention Center; 30,000 people will be running to educational and continuing education sessions and networking events and, most importantly, conversations on how the health ecosystem will address the unfulfilled potential of digital health and aggregated intelligence (AI) and protect our precious, personal health data with cybersecurity technologies will be the talk of the hallways.

Salute to HIMSS Staff – The Backbone of a Great Conference

Behind the scenes, HIMSS staff work diligently to address the needs of this ever-growing professional community.  While most people rightfully run from speaker sessions throughout the day, far fewer realize that the program is mainly built through membership participation. HIMSS is more like a peer-review medical conference than a for-profit entity.  Countless abstracts are submitted for review by volunteer working groups, graded and debated and those accepted to make it into the program. 

Mentors are assigned to the speakers to check in on their progress and content development.  Little is left to chance and “winged on stage.”  The HIMSS staff are considering all the little details, including assigning program committee members to introduce speaker sessions – highlighting the 300+ speakers and their content.  If the Jackson Browne hit song “Stay” salutes the roadies that put together and pull down his road-tour stage, HIMSS staff deserve a song commemorating their exceptional work.

HIMSS differs from the many key conferences around health innovation – it’s geared to the grass tops, chief information, strategy and technology officers, and the grassroots experts in digital health information where the rubber meets the road in operations and transformation.  You will find folks from the Federal government who can advance policies that improve access to information and its security, along with hard-working staff from agencies tasked with getting the job done.

Embrace the Good – Put Aside Your Darts

People love throwing darts at industry gatherings that have made it, and HIMSS takes its fair share of pundit swipes.  That said, in August 2021 in Las Vegas, HIMSS pioneered the way back to industry conferences by putting in place protocols requiring a COVID inoculation confirmation, a negative COVID task and masks.  If it came late to the public health shut-down party in 2020, it more than made amends one year later, courageously paving the way for the community to reunite!  Other groups, such as CNS Summit, built on that model and added even more confidence-generating approaches to unite the community.

If, in 2019, HIMSS added patient engagement and experience to its conference theme, this year’s theme hints at something that can make our innovations workable and meaningful – collaboration.  We don’t lack good ideas – we lack encouragement and incentives to work well together and operationalize!  As much as we invent new ways to apply information, we fear change and prefer to stick with the known – even if it’s suboptimal patient care. 

Physicians claim that the time spent on “managing information systems” or depending on those systems for answers is burning them out and keeping them from their primary mission – caring for people seeking solutions.  If so, then information technology is not meeting its mission –fixing one thing and breaking the ties between physician and patient. 

Conversation Can Lead to Solutions

While the hundreds of sessions at HIMSS will offer new knowledge, don’t forget to spend time in the hallways – meeting people, sharing ideas (and problems) and “keeping it real.”  The magic of technology isn’t the organization of massive amounts of data – it’s making more time to be us and fulfill our life missions. In health, that is connecting healers with those people seeking to be healed.

See you in the Windy City of Chicago.  I will be masked!  My COVID shots – inoculations and booster are up-to-date, and I’ll test each day.  When it comes to people’s health – public health – we can all make an extra effort. I come for the people, conversations and belief that in speaking with each other, we will continually piece together puzzle pieces of the divided health information ecosystem.

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The sessions (and meals) – positioned around the exhibit floor were meaty – and welcomely unscripted, offering plenty of time for real-world reflections on the state of health delivery.  Afterward, speakers would mingle on the exhibit floor to answer questions and continue the conversation.  Whether an intended benefit for attendees or not, the meeting structure was a great hit and strengthened ViVE as a go-to community where people can interact and discuss challenges and possibilities. 

The number of attendees was right-sized, where meeting and exchanging thoughts is a priority and at a time when the economy and health system are under a magnifying glass.  The system is broken. That’s a collective given. However, where we go next remains a mystery.

Some 6,000 people were in Nashville for this four-day CHIME intensive, and the schedule of events – official and unofficial – offered plenty of opportunity – need – to catch up.  There were specialty Start-Up, Interop Now, and Cybersecurity Pavilions for the ever-curious and Speed-Connection Forum for deal makers and plenty of action on the exhibit floor.

Some of the add-on gatherings included: the Start-Up Health Transformers Session, UC Davis and FINN Partners Summit on Innovation and the timed release of the Galen Growth Digital Health Report on US Health Provider Systems, the Nashville Entrepreneur Center Evening Meet-Up, and the always fun and welcome Pinksocks Get-Together at the famed Springwater.

MAGIC AROUND THE EXHIBIT HALL

The everyday magic centered around the exhibit hall – home to the mainstage presentations, provided meals, pop-up post-5 PM receptions, and varied entrepreneurial hubs.  That offered plenty of opportunities to connect with innovators who reserved exhibitor space. 

The themed location of exhibits also supported a deep dive for conversation with people looking to improve the flow of information within health systems, better utilize information for preventive care or harness the power of smart tech and wearables.  Most importantly, there was a general acknowledgment from the speakers and vibe that our health system doesn’t lack innovation – it is sorely in need of structural healing. 

ADDRESSING HEALTH ECOSYSTEM PAIN POINTS

In this way, the range of companies appearing on and wandering the exhibit floor made the meeting well worth the time investment.  Many of the companies present at ViVE are worth following (those here are in alphabetical order).  These are among the enterprises that are addressing pain points of the health ecosystem and rallying to pressing patient needs:

• AssureCare, a population-health company connecting payers, providers, pharmacies, and government-sponsored healthcare programs across the US, is taking the long-awaited patient-centric approach using technology to generate better insight through health information. This company is working to converge pharmacists’ and pharmacy data into a bigger population health picture. AssureCare hopes to break down silos in healthcare data sharing from specialty pharmacies to national chains.

• Babson Diagnostics is doing what over-promoted Theranos failed to deliver. Babson is reimagining the diagnostic blood testing experience making routine blood testing less invasive, more convenient, affordable, and empowering people to take charge of their health. The holy grail of patient testing has been to bring it into the retail pharmacy setting using technologies that require one-tenth the sample blood volume of traditional venipuncture methods without sacrificing quality, accuracy, or menu breadth and pushing these diagnostic tests into a well-known setting where convenience corresponds to patients’ upcoming physician visit is in itself a big step in the right direction.

• CereCore® is elevating hospital operational effectiveness.  Its systems are already based in top-performing US hospitals, enabling this health IT enterprise to improve processes, data security and clinical applications. Hospitals remain the most expensive points of care within the US health ecosystem.  Generating insights and learning to mine and apply data earlier in the patient engagement process is key to improving care and reducing costs.  Hospitals cannot go it alone; tapping into a well-proven system is a smart starting point.

• CPSI has combined several companies under its corporate umbrella focusing on health solutions and services for community hospitals, clinics, and post-acute care facilities. These are the health systems that are known to struggle as more and more systems look to align with other, larger entities. The path to system-wide health has been to ensure a better patient care experience, improve financial operations and offer community hospitals and affiliated clinics EHR solutions that can accurately code assignments for reimbursement. While many companies in the field are looking to “innovate,” sometimes the greatest care advances are in strengthening the care system’s capacity to be economically viable.

• eVideon uses smart-room technology to streamline clinical workflow and transform the patient room into an immersive environment. This company enables hospitals and long-term care clinics to integrate EMR and other installed technologies to display real-time information through the in-room Smart TV, digital whiteboard, digital door sign and bedside tablet. The platform is streamlining clinical workflow and reducing the technology burden on clinicians. This system even features in-room surveys and video chat so the patient has a greater real-time voice.

• Harmony Healthcare IT is the data management firm that moves and stores health organizations’ patient, employee and business records. Among the category of veteran players, it continues to pioneer health IT tech in many ways.  Founded in 2006, this company works with more than 550 clinical, financial, and administrative software in the US and Canada.

• HCTec provides services to more than 1,500 academic medical centers, health systems, community hospitals, critical access hospitals, and healthcare provider organizations. While patients are supposedly the health system’s priority, it’s vital to remember that if the care locations are poorly staffed and lack infrastructure, their mission will be severely hampered.  At a time when hospital systems are integrating, getting their staff and EMR systems connected is a mega – even life-saving priority. 

• Interwell Health is a kidney-care management platform in a field that has become one of the most pressing health sector needs.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 37 million Americans are affected by kidney disease, and most are unaware of their progressive condition.  With kidney disease reaching near-epidemic levels, how physicians care for patients and help them navigate a fragmented reimbursement environment is a monumental task. The cascade of care – from diagnosis to dialysis – requires access to practice knowledge and reimbursement.  Learning about an illness is the start of a process and getting the care essential to keeping people on track to prevent additional medical risks is where medical outcomes are judged.

• ixlayer is partnering with payors, retail pharmacies, direct-to-consumer brands, biopharma, health systems, and telehealth providers to create quick and easy diagnostics for common conditions where reducing cost is possible – before an illness is much more severe. This platform “white labels” its tests for major customers with direct patient access and enables numerous testing options and seamless integration with its customers and lab partners. Like many innovation leaders, its goal is to shift engagement to earlier stages when a disease presents and its management has far more cost-effective treatment options.

• Juli was front-and-center at the American Telemedicine Association meeting in San Antonio earlier this year. The consumer-direct platform – available through a convenient app – supports people with chronic health conditions such as asthma, migraine, depression, bipolar disorder, hypertension or chronic pain through several evidence-based approaches. This consumer health empowerment tool integrates information that impacts health and awareness by tracking health responses to environmental data (e.g., weather, air pollution, pollen) through smartphones or popular wearables and aligning health.  The information can help shift the sick-care reactive system to a self-care preventive care approach.

• Lifepoint Health, the Nashville-headquartered provider, has, since its founding, become a national health system serving patients, clinicians, communities and partner organizations across the healthcare continuum.  A spin-out of the pioneering HCA, this system now includes more than 50,000 employees, 62 community hospital campuses, 50 rehabilitation and behavioral health hospitals – plus 200 additional care sites, including managed acute rehabilitation units, outpatient centers, and post-acute care facilities.  It was no surprise that Lifepoint Health was present at ViVE.

• Loyal is among the first companies to offer end-to-end digital and AI-powered solutions tracking the patient journey; its software solutions for improved care utilization can be found within the nation’s top health systems and hospitals. From selecting a provider best suited for treating a specific condition to closing a feedback loop on patient experience, they have demonstrated that feedback is desired and that people who engage their health networks tend to show greater loyalty.

• Sheba Medical Center was part of the expert conversation at ViVE – a surprise for some as Newsweek World’s Best Hospitals five years straight – this medical system sent representatives from more than 6,000 miles away to share insights on how it maximizes technology across its care systems.  Its acute-care hospital, rehabilitation center, research and training programs, medical simulation center, center for disaster response, and the ARC Innovation Center for redesigning global healthcare all tap into the full range of digital and health technologies. At ViVE, its head of innovation spoke about the importance of looking for innovation from within its walls and the benefits of sharing best practices around the globe.  

• Teladoc Health appears to be about accessing care from many locations, but the pandemic demonstrated that the platform could provide much more to improve people’s well-being.  Now, telemedicine has become a given and has shown its value in patient adherence, management of chronic conditions such as diabetes, checking in with people enrolled in clinical trials and dealing with senior care needs.  In post-acute hospital care, telemedicine can support the outpatient process and keep people healing at home.  This global leader in delivering whole-person virtual care – including primary care, mental health, chronic condition management, and more – is the category must-watch innovator.

WHAT’S UP NEXT FOR HEALTH INNOVATORS?

The success of ViVE had many looking forward to April and HIMSS in Chicago, and CNS Summit in Boston this November.  For health innovators planning for 2024, mark your calendars for ViVE February 25 – 28, 2024, in Los Angeles.  If you have already marked your calendar for those dates, it’s a sure sign that #ViVE2023 was a hit!

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