The behemoth of all healthcare conferences started today: the 2018 HIMSS Conference & Exhibition. Few healthcare conferences garner the attention of healthcare industry executives and professionals as the annual HIMSS Conference and Exhibition. And HealthCare Executive Group (HCEG) members, sponsor partners and advisors are among the approximate 45,000 healthcare professionals descending upon Las Vegas this week to network with others, attend sessions addressing topics of interest, cut through the clutter and and jockey for position among 10’s of 1000’s of others in the cavernous exhibit halls of the HIMSS conference.

How Big is the HIMSS Conference?

To get an idea about the sheer size of the HIMSS Conference & Exhibition, consider the following statistics provided by HIMSS:

Number of Attendees: Approximately 45,000 people – equal to a capacity crowd during a Cubs game at Wrigley Field
Geography: attendees from 40 countries will be represented.
Exhibitors: About 1300+ vendors – most all of them flush with shiny handouts and branded tchotchke battle each other for the attention, contact information and budget of the attendees from around the globe.
Carpet: More than 10 miles of carpet cover the aisles of the exhibit hall
Connectivity: About 18 miles of cabling provide internet connectivity throughout the convention center.

HCEG’s Top 10 Mirror Popular HIMSS Themes

Historically, industry executives, media, thought leaders, speakers, influencers and brands predict major HIMSS conference themes in the months and weeks leading up to the conference. Not surprisingly, this year’s major themes closing align with the opportunities, challenges and issues ranked by HCEG’s members in the 2018 HCEG Top 10. These include the following:

Advanced Analytics (Ranked #1 on HCEG Top 10 List)

Clinical, operational and financial processes supported by ever-improving artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing applications have been identified by many as a primary way to make everyone more proactive to improve outcomes and lower costs. And the importance of non-traditional data sources such as social determinants of health, consumer-generated data and data purchased from 3rd parties provide tangible cost savings, time savings and quality of care improvements.

Value-based Payment & Care (#3)

In spite of recent pullback by CMS on bundled payment initiatives and some delays in implementing certain regulations regarding value-based payment programs, information, products and services aimed at accommodating our aging population and increasing levels of chronic conditions are legion in the sessions, exhibit booths and hallway conversations at HIMSS.

Population Health Programs & Services (#2)

Results from the 8th Annual Industry Pulse report, based on the HCEG Top 10, make it is clear that the industry can’t get to value-based payment (VBP) without significantly enhanced clinical data, analytics and agreed upon measures. And VBP won’t succeed unless there is more focus on bringing communities together to change behaviors and how we think about approaching population health.

Sorting through all the overlapping platforms, data trends, and tools needed to complement the care team and provide patients with optimal outcomes at the lowest cost are no easy feat. Attendees exploring the exhibit hall in search of achieving efficient implementations, streamlined operations, scaled delivery across large markets have their work cut out for themselves this week.

Engaging Healthcare Consumers & Patients (#10)

Whether you agree or not, healthcare services and products are moving from a B2B to a B2C and B2B2C delivery model.

Recent announcements from non-traditional healthcare market participants like the Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JP Morgan Chase partnership and the CVS- Aetna merger make it clear that massive change in the traditional healthcare market – lead by the digitization of everything – is imminent. Duplicating the consumer engagement models these new healthcare market entrants have proven in other industries and markets makes it apparent that significant cultural and organizational changes are required to adapt to the digital transformation sweeping the healthcare industry.

Popular Hashtags At the 2018 HIMSS Conference

You can zero in on popular HIMSS-related themes using the following hashtags:

#patientengagement – Being used over 80% more this year in comparison to last year

#AI and its variants #artificialintelligence, #machinelearning and #bigdata

#VR, #AR and #IoT are trending upwards of 100-200% over last years conference

#Aim2Innovate, #TransformHIT, and #EmpowerHIT

Check out this eBook from HIMSS on some of the innovation that will be on display at this year’s conference.

HCEG Sponsor Partners at HIMSS

If you’re at the HIMSS Conference, be sure to check out our sponsor partners exhibits, sessions and special events are hosting. Here are those we know about at this time. We’ll share more as they become known.

Instamed

Visit Booth 5062 to get some water, soft pretzels, Tastykakes and learn more about Instamed’s offerings.

Also, on Tuesday, March 6, 2018 at 7:30pm, InstaMed is also hosting a reception at TAO in The Grand Canal Shoppes of the Venetian Hotel & Casino. See here for more info.

Cumberland Consulting Group

Cumberland Consulting Group is hosting a happy hour on Wednesday, March 7 at 4:00-7:00pm at the Public House in Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian. For more information, contact Brigid Turrittin.

Change Healthcare

Visit booth 4202 to meet with Change Healthcare – a HIMSS featured exhibitor.

On Tuesday, March 6th at 9:30, Change Healthcare, Intel and other vendor will present “Blockchain Reset – Seeing Through the Hype and Starting Down the Path.” Location is Sands Hall G Booth 11955ET.

Special ‘HIMSS18-edition’ eNewsletter

Keep your eyes peeled for more information, insight and ideas that HCEG members, sponsor partners and advisors will be gathering from Las Vegas this week. A special ‘HIMSS18-edition’ eNewsletter will be shared later this week including major takeaways, insights from conference thought leaders and some pictures capturing the event. If you aren’t already a subscriber to our newsletter, you can sign up here.