Two health IT conferences, both in Florida, just one week apart. HIMSS22 was the longtime champ, ViVE the spunky upstart. Which one offered the most valuable takeaways for healthcare information managers, CIOs, and other leaders?
We attended both events and came back with tons of ideas. Interlace Health Manager of Research and Insights Chris Link and Senior Solution Manager Dessiree Paoli shared our top takeaways during our recent webinar, HIMSS22 & ViVE, Key Trends & Insights from the Largest Health IT Events of the Year. Watch it when you have a chance—or keep reading for a quick summary!
Which topic made the biggest impact?
At both events, care delivery redesign was the most-discussed topic. But the focus varied from one event to the other.
At ViVE, speakers looked at consumer interaction in the retail industry as a potential model for healthcare. As Chris explained, “Retail lets different consumers interact in different ways. Why don’t we do that in healthcare? Can we move away from primary care providers into a more disparate model? The focus was more about rebuilding care delivery.”
At HIMSS, Chris said sessions were more about “’Here are all the friction points for patients—how do we remove them and make healthcare more accessible?’ It’s still about improving processes,” rather than reimagining the entire system.
Another theme common to both events was what Chris called “the scary word—interoperability.” The fear is driven by the new Trusted Exchange Framework, Common Agreement (TEFCA) which seeks to establish a universal floor of interoperability across the country. Chris said the talk was about “getting organizations to buy into the new agreement and boost data sharing. Payors, providers, vendors, even researchers will be watching closely. Consistent data format is a challenge everyone has to deal with.”
Staffing challenges are still top-of-mind.
In a poll during the webinar, more than 90% of attendees said their organizations were still experiencing staffing challenges. Dessiree was not surprised.
“It’s an employees’ market—not just in healthcare but across the whole economic system,” she said. “They’re tired, so you need technology that makes their jobs as easy as possible.”
Chris said sessions at both events tended to discuss two solution paths. “One was technology—how do we automate so staff can focus on higher value jobs? AI tools can automate workflows and relieve the burden so they’re not digging through files or typing out forms. All those minutes saved add up to hours.
“The second path was around managing the shifting workforce. Millennials are now pushing into their 40s, Gen Z is coming in, and they have different expectations. How do we retain and train them better? It comes down to listening, building in flexibility and balance.”
A growing role for AI.
There’s been a big shift in focus about how we apply AI to solving healthcare problems. Chris said, “Diagnosis, population health, predicting outbreaks—these aren’t hypotheticals anymore.”
Speakers at ViVE were more direct about the reasons AI is—or is not—working, while HIMSS speakers focused more on best practices and what AI is ultimately meant to deliver.
“The biggest challenge is around health equity,” Chris said. “The algorithms are only as good as the data that’s fed into them. Issues with bias or incomplete data harm the model, and many minority groups and people of color are not necessarily getting the care that’s best for them.”
Which event should you attend next year?
Next year’s events won’t be in the same state, so it might not be as easy to attend both. Chris and Dessiree said you can choose one or the other by the questions you ask yourself.
- If your questions are along the lines of “What do I need to be thinking about when it comes to investing my tech dollars over the next few years?” ViVE might be your event.
- HIMSS may be more about “What can I do to make a difference today to make my facility the best it can be? What new ideas are working in other places?”
Of course, as far as we’re concerned, they’re both essential. See what you think—watch our HIMSS22 and ViVE recap webinar on demand.
