HIMSS11: Linking People, Potential and Progress

Meaningful use is out of the gate and influencing health IT decisions across the board. Learning from peers and knowing what options are out there is critical. These are likely two reasons why, as of mid-January, registration for HIMSS11 was about 30 percent ahead of last year.

The theme of this year’s show, slated for Orlando, Fla., later this month, emphasizes collaboration. Attendees will get to see some non-traditional exhibitors and experience unconventional formats among the 300-plus educational sessions, because “other industries can teach healthcare how to solve some of its most complex problems,” says JoAnn Klinedinst, CPHIMS, PMP, FHIMSS, vice president of professional development at HIMSS.

Federal drivers aren’t the entire story, of course. Some non-traditional exhibitors will be on hand on the 280,000-square-foot show floor, and in the 300-plus educational sessions, because “other industries can teach healthcare how to solve some of its most complex problems,” Klinedinst says.

What should the CMIO look for at this show? The pre-conference symposia on Sunday, Feb. 20. features the “Physicians' IT Symposium: Successes and Scars in Achieving Meaningful Use.” IT leaders in small practices and large organizations alike will benefit from hearing a successful dashboard implementation story and learn about two different Accountable Care Organization (ACO) models. This year’s Physicians’ IT Symposium will cover all things EHR. Bring your questions and take some strategies home with you as you prepare for the road ahead.

New this year: poster sessions. Reviewed and approved by the HIMSS Physicians Community Leadership committee, poster sessions focus on HIE and EHR implementation and adoption, architecture, research, and Meaningful Use.

Also on Sunday, the CHIME/HIMSS CIO Forum will bring together CIOs to examine the latest thinking, explore new trends in the industry, hear from respected leaders and experts, and join colleagues for a day of networking. Other Sunday symposia include “5010 & ICD-10: Keeping Ahead of the Curve”; “HIE in the Era of HITECH and Health Reform”; “Secondary Use of Data”; “Nursing Informatics”; and “Clinical Engineering and IT Leadership,” among others.

And when HIMSS11 opens on Monday, Feb. 21, watch for several new pavilions, including the RFID and RTLS Showcase, which is set up as a patient room in a hospital, allowing viewers to see interaction of RFID technologies at work, Klinedinst says.

In addition, CMIOs should include the “Physician Executive Forum” in their show plans, Klinedinst says. This new forum, which will run from Feb. 21 to Feb. 24, is designed for practicing physician executives in the enterprise setting. It examines the fiscal impact of meaningful use from the clinical, financial and administrative perspectives. Presenters will discuss the positive and not-so-positive impact on the physician executive, while also focusing on process, people and projects.

Synergy Sessions on Monday, Feb. 21, include:

Management Engineering Process Improvement, which will feature three back-to-back sessions with CMIO appeal:

• Partnering Systems Engineering with HIT to Improve Healthcare Delivery for Hospitalized Patients, 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
• Design Thinking: An Innovation Process for Healthcare Workflow Transformation, 11:00 a.m. to noon
• Change Management: Readiness and Sustaining Change, 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.

More interoperability

Linking people, potential and progress won’t be possible without linking IT systems. The HIMSS Interoperability Showcase this year expands to 40,000 square feet and features longer hours, more exhibitors and more demonstrations than ever before—befitting the show theme and illustrating the rising interest in systems that can work well together.

The Interoperability Showcase is organized “in a way we have found that people are thinking about what they need to accomplish at the conference,” says Lisa Spellman, MBA, HIMSS senior director of informatics and Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) senior staff liaison.
The area will include:

1. More than 50 education sessions, including meaningful use, quality reporting and how standards-based solutions such as IHE can help providers meet those goals, Spellman says.
2. Thematic tours organized around communities of care and that show integration efforts in ambulatory or hospital care, or HIEs, etc.
3. Live Exchange, showing organizations that have successfully deployed interoperable, standards-based systems.  
4. Federal presence. With so much action “at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue,” Spellman says, attendees should expect to see a slate of initiatives from the Office of the National Coordinator.  

Educational sessions

The hottest topics among the educational sessions at HIMSS11 are, not surprisingly, ARRA/meaningful use, clinical informatics and electronic health records, which combined account for one-third of all the sessions. In addition to the 19 other educational topics listed, attendees will see some nontraditional types of content, according to Klinedinst.

HIT X.0: Beyond the Edge
Twelve interactive sessions, led by noted industry experts, will take place Monday through Thursday. Attendees can engage with the advanced, state-of-the-art technology and thinking.

HIT geeks got talent?
Are you willing to have your healthcare-transforming technology judged by an expert panel? If so, then be sure to enter as a contestant in HIMSS11 Session 54: “HIT Geeks Got Talent?” These sessions will host a talent-search-like format featuring contestants demonstrating their latest technologies developed for the heatlhcare IT space.

Iron Programmer Challenge: Mobile App Technologies
Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM
Alpha programmers get a chance to shine in another atypical HIMSS session: Two people will be programming mobile healthcare apps simultaneously and attendees can watch on monitors to see what they’re doing and how, Klinedinst says.

Additional HIT X.0 sessions include:

A Glimpse at Tomorrow’s Technology Today
Monday, Feb. 21, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Speaker: John Glaser, PhD, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CEO, Health Services Business Unit, Siemens

Can't get to Orlando? You can get instant access to news at the show via our CMIO live show coverage throughout the meeting. Check out CMIO.net for all the news from HIMSS11. For additional information about the show, go to himssconference.org.