This year we had the chance to return to HIMSS (Healthcare and Information Management Systems Society) Global Health Conference & Exhibition after a break due to the challenges of the pandemic and returning to in-person instruction. The HIMSS annual conference is a premier influential health information technology event, where 40,000+ professionals throughout the global health ecosystem have a chance to meet, build relationships, learn from experts in hot topic education sessions, and discover innovative health tech products.
Over the last several years, the College of Medicine‘s Office of Technology has promoted the conference amongst our students, faculty, and staff to encourage the interest and pursuit of technology application in healthcare. With support from the Dean’s Excellence Fund, four students were chosen to represent the college at this year’s HIMSS conference, which was held April 17–21 in Chicago, Illinois.
MS1s Victoria Dinh, Craig Heflick, and Alex Raquer and MS3 Susannah Winger, along with Amy Denman from the Office of Technology, attended notable keynote sessions and educational sessions covering a wide-range of topics. Additionally, well over 1,000 exhibitors were present to demonstrate the latest healthcare technology applications. Large companies such as Amazon Web Services, Epic, and AT&T, along with smaller boutique and startup firms, were on hand to promote (and sell!) their wares.
Three hot topics at HIMSS 2023
- Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity was featured everywhere at this conference. We all know and live with privacy and security concerns around our personal data. Multi-factor authentication, long passwords, security questions authentication tokens . . . and still, somehow, the Dark Artists of the interwebs still manage to steal vast amounts of personal data every day. It is not just a burgeoning growth area for computer scientists and people trying to sell us stuff—it also a growing threat in healthcare technology that has implications not just for our data, but perhaps our health, too.
Keep this in mind
as more devices want (or need) to attach to you—and ask good questions about its cybersecurity.
- AI (Artificial Intelligence): Responsibility, Ethical Considerations, Patient Safety, and Privacy
- Digital Health: Interoperability, Informatics, and Building Health Equity
We heard from leaders who believe that there will be a market for concierge patient care that will be delivered in the home vs. clinic. Medical Device Management (MDM) for in-home care that can be remotely monitored from afar can open up access to care, which may be difficult for some to achieve currently. This also begs the question: How will privacy concerns be mitigated and the cybersecurity infrastructure to support it?
If you see Victoria, Alex, Craig, or Sue,
ask them what we all thought about Geek Squad (Best Buy) for MDM!
Check out our previous blog post about the HIMSS conference!
Five healthcare technology trends we learned about at HIMSS 2021
In a typical year, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Global Health Conference & Exhibition brings together nearly 45,000 health information and technology professionals, clinicians, executives, and market suppliers from around the world.
by the Office of Technology