HIMSS10: Stimulus wasn't the only story

Mary Stevens, Editor

HIMSS10 attendance was pegged at 27,500 as of March 3--this is not the final count--but it was up slightly from 2009 and about 1,600 short of the 2008 tally. For anyone who was there, 27,500 probably seems like an undercount: The Georgia World Congress Center, which is bigger than many city airports, was filled with enthusiastic attendees and vendors packed two halls.

Although the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's HITECH provisions and the CMS' proposed meaningful use requirements were key drivers of HIMSS10 educational content, they were not the whole show.

HIMSS10 marked the first time the show featured a keynote speaker from a telecommunications industry--Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint Nextel, delivered his keynote remarks to a packed house. Sprint and other infrastructure providers will play an increasingly important role in delivery of care, and that fact wasn't lost on those in attendance.

Vendors and speakers also put interoperability into the spotlight, whether it was systems sharing data or devices capturing and distributing information to disparate software. The IHE's Interoperability Showcase starred 60-plus vendors, 30 organizations, and more than 70 products playing well with others. The Showcase featured 28 Interoperability Scenarios, from maternal health to clinical research, and was HIMSS' biggest ever. Away from the showcase, vendors released a multitude of integration/interoperability agreements and partnerships.

All of which might corroborate National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal's observations that health IT is reaching "critical mass" in the U.S. and will improve patient care delivery even if federal initiatives don't achieve 100 percent compliance.

We appreciate your following our coverage during the show, and if you missed anything please visit our HIMSS 360° Conference Coverage.

If you have any comments or questions on our conference coverage, please contact me.

Mary Stevens
Editor
mstevens@trimedmedia.com