HIMSS 2022

Two conferences in two weeks after a two year hiatus

There has been a lot of commentary on the return to in person and while there have been other conferences in between they mostly occurred under a shadow of some restrictions and continued disease burden and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its multiple variants that wreacked so much havoc on our world.

But here we are with another healthcare conference and one with a long track record in healthcare, technology and innovation

What to Expect

It has been clear from the preview and the interactions pre-conference that there are many people with a pent up demand to get back and connect with colleagues, friends and their tribe or community. Based on my own personal travel experience it was hard to tease out who was coming to HIMSS and who was heading to the sun for spring break and other conferences. My hotel was filled with attendees to another conference Florida State Leadership conference and based on the non stop partying outside my door throughout last night it seemed to be more about the party than it was the conference.

HIMSS hosted an executive session with open question and answer with Hal Baker who was optimistic for the future. While the conference saw its share of decrease in numbers and activities there has been a turnaround and rebound with membership back on the rise and international interest in conference activities. They expect numbers to be up from their conference last year and are seeing this with conferences in other parts of the world.

The lessons from the last two years have amplified the need to build a blended capability to allow for a virtual experience and the opportunity for people to participate their preferred way. Achieving a good experience for everyone will be challenging – as yet no clear concept has emerged and the virtualization of the traditional experience while filling the gap left by the Pandemic has proven stale for most. There are some augmented reality capabilities that may start to deliver on a vibrant experience but none are here yet

Health Equity

Using the learning experience of the pandemic that shone a spot light on many under served areas remains top of mind especially at a technology conference. Technology that further amplified the inequity and for those groups was not part of the solutions but remained stubbornly part of the problem.

We learnt in the pandemic that in only takes one small cog in the wheel to bring the whole system down (can anyone say toilet paper without thinking of the pandemic?) and it is true for healthcare as well. There were many stories of people who had no internet access or found themselves in a small apartment with all the family living in tight quarters leaving nowhere for a private healthcare tele-consultation.

We need to raise access for everyone and to be all inclusive.The pandemic has taught us that we are all in this together and this week we are together, listening, learning and reconnecting with old friends

Tagged as Digital Health, DigitalHealth, education, Health, Healthcare, HIMSS, Incremental, Incremental Healthcare