What's New At HIMSS14?
By Ken Congdon
The Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition is always a great place for health IT leaders to network, evaluate the latest health IT products and vendors, and take in world-class educational sessions and keynotes. However, each year the conference also adds a few new items that designed to add even more value to an already robust agenda. This year’s event in Orlando is no exception. Here are a few of the new offerings debuting at HIMSS14 that I’m most excited about:
Nemours Children’s Hospital, Lake Nona Medical City Tours — This Davies Award winning and Stage 7 innovative hospital will be hosting two half-day tours during HIMSS14 (one on Sunday 2/23 and one on Tuesday 2/25). Each day will begin with a driving tour of Lake Nona Medical City, followed by a panel discussion and tour of Nemours Children’s Hospital. The day will end with a brief tour of the Intelligent Medical Home on site at Lake Nona. Each tour will provide a slightly different theme and agenda. Attendance requires registration and a $49 fee.
The Intelligent Hospital Pavilion — If you can’t make it to Lake Nona to tour its Intelligent Medical (IM) Home, HIMSS14 will bring the concept to the show floor with the Intelligent Hospital Pavilion (Hall E, Booth 8265). This exhibit has nearly doubled in size this year to feature not only the IM Home, but also three other unique use cases —an Intelligent Labor and Delivery Room, Cardiology Suite, and Supply Chain Suite.
The new IM Home will demonstrate the longitudinal flow of real-time data from the patient recovering at home back to the primary caregiver at the local hospital, demonstrating the continuum of health and wellness through technology. The IM Home comprises several essential consumer-oriented smart home technologies such as broadband pipe, along with clinical applications utilizing diverse technologies such as biometrics, BLE, RFID, RTLS, sensors, and wireless and mobile devices.
Connected Patient Learning Gallery — This hands-on exhibit located in Hall A at Booth 2383 features technology tools designed to aid in provider and patient engagement. Four-themed kiosks will showcase a range of innovative health IT products and services. These kiosks include:
Health Management — featuring patient portal solutions;
Wellness, Social & Behavioral — featuring fitness, weight management, and social community technologies;
Financial Health — featuring health banking and payment technologies; and
Home Health — featuring at-home and telemedicine solutions.
The gallery also offers a wide variety of educational sessions, a TweetUp, and a Wellness Challenge.
Reimagined Interoperability Showcase — The Interoperability Showcase itself isn’t a new addition to HIMSS14, but this year HIMSS has significantly expanded the exhibit by merging it with the Meaningful Use Experience. This was done to emphasize how collaborative technology is vital to the realization of connected health and patient empowerment. The showcase also features a new interoperability simulation area where you can explore a simulated ICU, operating room, and physician office to learn how Meaningful Use Certified systems improve patient safety and help providers meet the requirements of HITECH and Stage 2 Meaningful Use criteria.