HIMSS '23: A Pre-Show Glimpse of What to Expect

For over 60 years, the Healthcare Information Management Systems Symposium (HIMSS) global conference has remained a central platform for healthcare professionals to network, share experiences, and get solutions to the most pervasive problems facing the healthcare industry. It's one of the most significant events in the Healthcare Information Technology (HCIT) sector, bringing together droves of clinical leaders, businessmen, policymakers, innovators, and disruptors from all around the world.

Now with HIMSS 2023 just around the corner, healthcare experts are anticipating what areas this year's conference will focus on and what help there may be to address the greatest challenges the healthcare sector is facing. Whether you're a healthcare professional, a nimble startup, or an established tech giant, read on to explore the four highly expected themes this year's HIMSS will bring to the spotlight.

Cloud-native systems 

While healthcare industry analysts may often disagree, one issue they always stand united on is that the future of healthcare is in the cloud. For years, healthcare has trailed other industries in cloud adoption – now, that gap is narrowing. According to a recent study, about 32% of healthcare organizations use some form of cloud computing, just three points below the retail sector and about the same as manufacturing.

It's also one of the key focus areas of HIMSS '23. Taking a dive into this topic, HIMSS aims to help healthcare professionals use innovative solutions to migrate their workloads to cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). With backup functions an inherent benefit of cloud deployments, healthcare organizations can focus less on data center management and more on improving the quality of care and outcomes for the patients and communities they serve.

For example: among the most widely used clinical system is the Electronic Health Record (EHR). AWS Marketplace can help organizations innovate on their current EHR system, incorporating technology to reduce administrative burden and improve clinician experience. These solutions can help providers get insights and tools required to improve health outcomes – all in a secure environment that ensures patient data privacy.

EHR on AWS Cloud

With EHR on AWS, healthcare providers can save countless IT dollars by reducing their operating costs and user downtime. Powered by AWS, they can auto-scale infrastructure resources based on demand rather than designing and running for peak demand at all times. AWS also ensures your data environment remains validated and optimized with unprecedented levels of scalability, reliability, and agility.

Interoperability in healthcare data

Accessing and sharing health data in a fast and secure manner has always remained a huge challenge. Unsurprisingly, it's also among the expected hot topics at HIMSS '23.

The problem with health data is it's difficult to share and requires a high level of privacy and security. Yet, the inability to access it when it's needed has the potential to cause delays in care and risk to patient safety. That's why today's healthcare organizations require robust levels of interoperability and digital modernization to economically store, access, and transmit this data from multiple modalities.

Using a secure interoperability solution for cloud backup and archive capabilities can effectively reduce business continuity risk, reduce burnouts in clinical staff, and improve patient care.

A simple example of an interoperability solution is PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System), a solution used for storing, retrieving, presenting, and sharing medical images, like X-Rays, CT scans, MRIs, and Ultrasounds.

Cloud-native PACS 

Combined with the cloud, PACS can not only improve accessibility, security, and storage of health data but also help healthcare organizations eliminate the wait for hardware procurement and setup – enabling faster time to value. Such Infrastructures can be spun up in minutes rather than weeks, accelerating your revenue stream and removing the guesswork and costs of designing it.

Cybersecurity solutions

For HIMSS '23, it’s no surprise that healthcare cybersecurity is a very hot topic and a critical need for all medical industry organizations. As healthcare continues to be highly targeted by cybercriminals, a recent survey revealed that 89% of healthcare organizations experienced a data breach in the past two years.

With attackers constantly evolving their tactics, adopting the latest cybersecurity solutions like a Zero Trust framework can help ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your organization’s data. Looking through the HIMSS '23 agenda, there are at least a dozen entries like specialty programs, a workshop, education sessions, and interactive, hands-on activities organized to enhance knowledge and offer solutions to some of today's biggest cyber threats the healthcare industry is up against.

As part of the agenda, the event will also host several cybersecurity HCIT leaders from all over the world, offering valuable insights and solutions against cyber-attacks and ransomware. Among the solutions sure to be discussed is Security Operations Center as a Service (SOCaaS), which is among the leading security resilience and threat protection models that healthcare professionals are adopting today.

SOCaaS for Healthcare

SOCaaS is a great answer for threat monitoring, detection, and incident response, incorporating AI capabilities that proactively counter threat intelligence and repel cyber-attacks. The model uses a combination of technologies, analytics, and specialized skills to enable rapid detection, analysis, and investigation of incidents. Such services are essential to any healthcare system bearing digital data, allowing duty holders to minimize downtime, keep security teams alert, ensure resilience, and maintain thorough legal and regulatory compliance.

Employee engagement and retention

The issue of staffing shortages is one of the biggest challenges the healthcare sector faces today. While this problem dates way back and has impacted the healthcare industry for decades, the industry has seen an unprecedented leap that has continued since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Experts at HIMSS describe it as a 'crisis' that has severely affected patient care, leading to hospital-acquired infections, medical errors, patient falls, and increased chances of death.

Already a pivotal topic in the HIMSS '23 agenda, staff shortages have begun to deprive swaths of the population of primary healthcare expertise. To address this rising problem, HIMSS is featuring education sessions to spread awareness about burnout experienced by healthcare professionals and how IT can help reduce the burden causing it.

From training and support sessions for improving mental health to digital work desk solutions that enable healthcare professionals to efficiently use technology and eliminate exhaustion, HIMSS seeks to make a huge difference for clinicians and patients alike.

Digital Workplace Solutions

Using digital modernization, service desk support and IT managed services, healthcare organizations can help reduce employee burnout, increase clinician satisfaction, and save a myriad of costs associated with infrastructure management, IT lifecycle management, and workforce communication and collaboration.

Zones coming to HIMSS '23

The HIMSS ‘2023 Global Conference promises an exciting event full of education, innovation, and collaboration. It's a can't miss experience that brings together the world's IT leaders for training, special forums, and vendor exhibitions. And Zones is one of them.

For over 20 years, we've been helping healthcare providers and other industry organizations in the U.S. and around the world achieve better results for patients, clinicians, and staff. Our HCIT services have transformed countless technology barriers into bridges for better outcomes. And we are eager to do the same for you. We can help you upgrade your security posture, provide elasticity to scale on-demand, improve disaster recovery and business continuity – to help you improve operational efficiency, optimize workforce productivity, and reduce IT expense.

We promise you a swift path to fast-track your digital transformation and open new opportunities to benefit your staff, patients, and bottom line. To learn more about our IT service solutions and our presence at the upcoming HIMSS '23 global conference, visit our website.