Looking back on HIMSS15

Another HIMSS annual conference has come and gone and I think this year’s event presented a few surprises. There was outright criticism of Meaningful Use and while many expected a lot of focus on patient engagement and population health, interoperability drove more debate and conversation, in my opinion.

By Wednesday, attendance hit more than 43,000. Among those were Jonathan Bush who called MU a “big, fat joke that is actively unproductive,” and Stanley Huff of Intermountain who said MU wasn’t worth the $29 billion.

American Medical Association President Robert Wah, MD, delivered the keynote address at the Innovation Symposium and said failure is a stepping stone to success.

Wah too criticized MU: “You have to wonder about the success of a program in which half of the participants are failing. One has to think that the criteria for success and failure aren’t correct.”

During a press briefing, ONC chief Karen DeSalvo said the proposed rule for Stage 3 has led to great dialogue. “We want to bring people to the table. This is the time for comment. This is much more than technology. There are so many great stories about how people access their information. When it starts to work, it works great.” She also said they remain focused on outcomes but are thinking through the tools and cultural change that will bring everybody in.

Humana President and CEO Bruce D. Broussard opened day 2 by issuing a challenge to his audience to change the conversation.

During his keynote address, Broussard said the conversation has to change from one about a supply-based system to a system based on demand. “We have to put the customer first as opposed to the system. Over the years, healthcare has been built by developing more and more supply.”

Broussard acknowledged that he represents an industry and a company that is part of the problem. Today, consumers and providers are at the middle of the problem and enabling the system to work. “They are the ones that connect the system.”

Change will be uncomfortable and painful, he admitted, but “we need to change. Consumers are demanding it. We need to start with interoperability as a base to bring all of us together. We need to look at information not as a proprietary asset but as a shared asset that is free as opposed to taxed and tolled.”

Now it's time to sift through all the talks, announcements, new products and technology and if you hiked the halls of McCormick Place as much as I did, I'll be doing that with my feet up.

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor