HIMSS14, Thursday: Five things to know today

So much information. At this point in the conference, the sheer amount of information shared is overwhelming. Here are a few highlights.

1. HIMSS14 is officially the largest conference the organization has presented to date with total registration of 38,828. The second largest was in Las Vegas in 2012 with 36,506 and last year 34,500 attended in New Orleans.

2. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s keynote address was a thank you note to health IT professionals. I was delighted to be invited here because I wanted to thank you,” she told the audience. She also can tell a joke: "So many debates in Washington take place in an evidence-free zone.”

3. Yesterday’s panel of national coordinators of health IT was an interesting discussion about data, mandates, challenges and more. Farzad Mostashari, MD, MSc, has not let up on his message of the need for data exchange. “Just start sharing,” he said. “We get data accurate by sharing. Some information is better than no information.”

4. There is a wide range of responses and reactions to ICD-10. An account manager at one consulting firm said providers are either pretty far along or have barely started preparing—not much of a medium ground. Someone at another vendor has actually had hospital higher ups say they plan to “opt out” of ICD-10. Good luck with that.

5. The U.S. healthcare system products a ridiculous amount of data. Each day in 2013 generated an estimated 2.5 zettabytes of data, the equivalent of about 225 newspapers every day for every person on earth. “It boggles the mind how much digital footprint you have every day,” said Brett Trusko, PhD, MBA, president and executive director of the International Association of Innovation Professionals.