Reflecting on HiMSS 2019

Written by Andy Smith, MTM publisher

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HiMSS) event, designed to ‘transform healthcare through information and technology’ descended on Orlando, Florida, last week filling the original expo halls of the Orange County Convention Center with 1300 exhibitors and bringing 45,000 earnest healthcare technologists together to continue their vital work in support of healthcare improvement.

There appeared to be a triple focus for the event this year,interoperability, cyber security and AI. Certainly there was considerable focuson all three in terms of words, marketing slogans and floorspace and thecontent of the event shown daily did sterling work in supporting those ‘focii’.

Having seen and heard so much about the impact of non-healthcarebusinesses on healthcare, it was perhaps no surprise to see Microsoft andAmazon on the show-floor, they may well have been there last year, plus ofcourse IBM with a big play for Watson.

By all accounts it was a very successful and worthwhileevent with the healthcare industry, and for many of those driving it fromoutside, relying so heavily on technology to transform the sector, the work ofHiMMS is important and kudos is due to the organization.

I do not want to belabor the point, but healthcare is apeople business. It is people who deliver the care and pay the price in so manyways when things go wrong, despite all the wonderful technology.

Some of the most interesting exhibitors to MTM were those dealing with workforce management, of whom there were a number providing really useful data on performance and the propensity of staff to leave or burnout, plus all the usual clocking in and off metrics. Some of these also link to LMS software to monitor training and credentialing. Certainly having all staff information in one place and being able to support staff who might be disillusioned or heading for burnout would seem to be a massive potential money saver for hospitals at a time when staff shortages are looming. One booth highlighted the expected 1.2 million RN vacancies by 2022.

When questioning exhibitors on the topic of empowering staffand looking at the pre-hire through career processes, many think thathealthcare execs know fullwell the workforce challenges they face, and they seethe cost. Perhaps they really do think technology will fix it, or fix some ofit, or as some commented, they simply cannot see any way of doing things otherthan the way it has always been done.

The latter is very likely. The attitude that ‘I had to do itthat way so suck it up and get on with it’ would be no surprise. Many havenever had a relationship with the nursing schools they hire from and seem toaccept that ‘we’ve always paid ($60-70k) for onboarding’. Of course colleges mustteach the curriculum and the standards but there is no reason that they couldnot do it while also introducing the student to the work practices of theirfuture employer. Hospitals providing a number of students needed each yearwould do much to support students, colleges and hospitals, not to mention theparents, who pay the increasingly heavy sums involved.

It should be obvious to all that ‘we‘ve always done it thisway’ is no longer working. Students expect to be able to do the job, not learnon the job, and any visitor to IMSH this year would have been able to see theway ahead.

How do we, the healthcare simulation and training industry,widen the discussion and move our needle? Speaking to those with aneducation or training job title is not going to do it, we need to reach thedecision makers and budget holders.

Do we need a proper industry association i.e. one that willrepresent our interests because there are many we all try to influence who aremore invested in the status quo, whatever they may profess?

If we can move our needle we will also move the outcomes – thepatient safety needle too, that is the beauty of working in S&T! It is‘more than a just for profit business’ and the odd charlatan or get rich quickmerchant doesn’t last long; very few even bother, there are far easier ways ofmaking a living.

By way of comparison; 1,300 exhibitors and 45,000 attendeesat HiMMS, 130 exhibitors at IMSH and 4,000 attendees.

S&T has not reached those that it needs to reach in any significant way. Seventy hospital execs attending IMSH is ……. a start; but we need a lot more ambition.