HIMSS18: Top Trends and Themes

Another HIMSS18 conference has come and gone and we finally have a chance to sit back, relax and reflect on this past week. From the constant social chatter, major industry announcements to hours spent connecting with some of the best and brightest in healthcare, this year’s HIMSS was definitely one for the books. As we look back, here are some of the trends and themes that were top of mind throughout the week:

“Get to the cloud. Run to the cloud” 

HIMSS18 kicked off with a keynote address from former Alphabet executive chairman and Google CEO Eric Schmidt who laid out a secret formula for healthcare innovation: data + cloud + powerful networks + reinforcement learning = significant improvements in care. Could this formula change the future of healthcare? We’ll be keeping an eye out to see how Schmidt’s talk inspires the industry over the next few months.

CMS & The White House Put Interoperability on Center Stage

The healthcare industry has long struggled with data sharing with various stakeholders trying to move it forward. Now, CMS and the White House are proposing a solution. “We’re changing to a new era of empowered consumers. We are about putting patients first and making sure patients have access to their healthcare data. You’re hearing that from the White House too,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma shared during a HIMSS presentation. The new initiative, MyHealthEData, aims to get healthcare information into the hands of patients faster and will ensure that patients receive a copy of their EHR electronically via program interfaces or APIs. CMS is also taking steps to ensure hospitals are not involved in data blocking. Will both CMS and the White House push this initiative forward? Time will tell.

Big Tech Comes to Healthcare

Over the past few months, tech companies have been making headlines for their efforts in breaking into healthcare. At HIMSS, this trend continued as Google announced a new tool to help health institutions pull together important data in an effort to nudge the industry forward when it comes to the lack of interoperability between companies. Google Cloud is trying to address this by launching a new API that can ingest all the important health-care data types and is already announcing partnerships with hospital groups, like Stanford School of Medicine.

Patients are #1

At the end of the day, healthcare is all about patients and helping them get the quality care and support they need. HIMSS supported this belief by offering complimentary passes for qualifying patients, patient advocates and caregivers. From the CMS initiative, to new experience platforms, patients were clearly on the top of everyone’s minds. As consumers look to get more involved in their own health, this focus will only increase in the coming months and years.

HIMSS18 came and went in a flash but this year’s conference highlighted one thing: healthcare innovation is top of mind. The slow-moving space is now being inundated by top names in various industries who are looking to make a difference in healthcare quality and costs.

Thinking that AI is missing from this list? Check out our earlier blog dedicated to all things AI with commentary from Tyler Downs, our chief technology officer. Not able to make it to HIMSS or didn’t have enough time to schedule a meeting with us? Contact us here: https://medeanalytics.com/company/contact

Posted in

MedeAnalytics

MedeAnalytics is a leader in healthcare analytics, providing innovative solutions that enable measurable impact for healthcare payers and providers. With the most advanced data orchestration in healthcare, payers and providers count on us to deliver actionable insights that improve financial, operational, and clinical outcomes. To date, we’ve helped uncover millions of dollars in savings annually.

Leave a Comment





Get our take on industry trends

You're asking too much of your EHR

You’re asking too much of your EHR

April 8, 2021

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are purported to do a lot of things to support healthcare providers, and most of their claims are generally accurate. Of course, like anything, there are many areas where EHR vendors could and should make improvements.

Read on...
Gamification in healthcare only works if you can measure it – here’s how

Gamification in healthcare only works if you can measure it – here’s how

March 17, 2021

In business and in sports, it’s all about teams. What teams can accomplish when they work together. How they can fail spectacularly when they do

Read on...
Pandemic fuels 2021 healthcare megatrends

Pandemic fuels 2021 healthcare megatrends

February 4, 2021

When I wrote about megatrends last year, the predictions were, naturally, forward-looking. Telehealth, for example, was important because of increased healthcare consumerism and the convergence of technologies to make its use quick and easy for payers, providers and patients.

Read on...

Measuring provider cost and utilization

January 19, 2021

No matter the time of year, payers and providers should work to agree on a shared source of truth when it comes to data. With the recent end of the year, it’s time to celebrate the new year (who isn’t ready to say goodbye to 2020?) and close the books, which includes the reconciliation of any shared savings or losses.

Read on...