5 Topics & Launches from HIMSS17
March 3, 2017
5 Topics & Launches from HIMSS17
The hustle and bustle of over 40,000 attendees, 1,200 vendors and 300 sessions at HIMSS17 ended just last week. With everything going on there is a chance you may have missed something, here are five topics and launches from HIMSS17.
While there were many topics being discussed at the 4-day event, attendees have had a hard time pinpointing what issues dominated the conference. Just like the world of HIT, HIMSS17 had a lot going, here is what some of the buzz was all about:
- Cybersecurity
As we know, security breaches in the healthcare industry are in the headlines every day making it a no-brainer this would be a hot topic at the conference. HIMSS felt cybersecurity was so important they dedicated a full-day event, the Cybersecurity Forum, to the topic. While cybersecurity has been a hot topic for a couple of years, this year the conversations turned to medical devices. According to Marty Edwards, director of the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team at the Department of Homeland Security “It is only a matter of time before we see a major event affecting patients involving medical device cybersecurity.”
- Interoperability
Interoperability was a huge focus at last year’s conference, while cybersecurity seemed to be bigger this year, interoperability was still a primary focus for many attendees, vendors, and speakers. While significant progress has been made regarding Interoperability, it may not be happening as quickly as we would all have liked. HIMSS17 left us feeling optimistic; progress is still coming and at a steady rate!
- Big Data and Analytics
According to Paul Black, CEO of Allscripts, “I expected and saw the spotlight on the transformation of Big Data into more meaningful, usable analytics.” The discussion revolved a lot around how to manage patient responsibility, connectivity to communication platforms, and even interventions when necessary.
- Value-Based Care
HIT professionals were looking for tools and solutions to operationalize value-based care and payments. They were also looking for ways to increase patient engagement and enhance the patient experience.
- Telehealth
There is no doubt telehealth is up and coming. Many forces are driving the expanded use of telehealth services including the reduction of the spread of contagious viruses/sicknesses, access for rural communities, and cost reduction.
With so many Health IT professionals under the same roof, there is no better place than HIMSS to launch or demo a new product. There were quite a few product launches and demos throughout the show, here are some of our favorites:
- App Orchard- Epic
The highly-anticipated launch of App Orchard, Epic’s app store, finally happened at HIMSS17. According to Epic’s website “The App Orchard is where developers can learn about Epic’s APIs and list their apps for Epic community members to explore and access.”
- Healthy Hospital- McKesson
McKesson had lots of new products to demo during the show, one of those being Healthy Hospital. According to a press release, “Healthy Hospital is a new program that uses advanced analytics to help providers benchmark key revenue cycle metrics, and identify areas where they can accelerate or otherwise improve financial performance.”
- Touchstone-Medisolv
Touchstone, which is a comprehensive benchmarking software tool that can be utilized by hospitals and physicians for the measurement of quality and safety, will be available early summer. Touchstone, according to medisolv.org, is “the first benchmarking software of its kind for hospital eCQMs in the cloud,” will be available early summer
- DS8100-HC series scanners AND TC51-HC mobile computers- Zebra Technologies
Zebra Technologies released scanners and mobile computers that according to a press release “can foster clinical collaboration for staffers and drive better operational efficiencies, while also supporting the five rights of medication administration to help increase patient safety.”
- ClaimStaker- Alpha II
Alpha II released ClaimStaker, a claims editing software. According to their site, “ClaimStaker, is the most comprehensive clinical claim and encounter scrubbing tool available today.”
