Features Editor
HIMSS 2016 is here! Like many of you, I am excited to hit the show floor. Health Management Technology has always been a business-to-business publication that conforms to a certain level of professional decorum; however, I know many of our readers share in my pride of being labeled a tech geek. For me, there is no greater time than HIMSS for being completely immersed in cool tech – with so much to see and do, it really does feel as though four days isn’t enough to accomplish everything.
Last year’s HIMSS was how I cut my teeth in the HIT industry. The 2015 show coincided with my second week on the job as editor of this magazine. When I first walked onto the show floor, I felt as though I had entered a portal into another dimension. HIMSS was overwhelming in terms of its sheer size, and it was hard for my brain to process the notion that there was this entire world that existed outside my purview – a world comprised of a vast landscape of booths larger than my house, each populated by smiling people wearing badges.
At first, the culture shock was nerve-wracking, but I’ve since been to several trade shows and have spent the last year surrounded by healthcare technology, both in and outside my office. If there’s one thing I’ve learned while covering this industry, it’s that the most inspiring proposals to solve the diverse problems that healthcare faces are those that come through mutual cooperation – vendors working together with other vendors, or new products that expand upon the work of a previous innovator.
New solutions and companies have developed as a result of relationships that manifested at HIMSS. The convention not only serves as a commercial vehicle, it’s also a chance for folks on different sides of a fence to meet and merge their resources to really affect change.
On that note, our cover story this month features interviews with notable CIOs who work for various health systems; they speak to technology implementation and how tech is genuinely improving the lives of people all over the country. In this issue, we also focus on security. Considering the massive data breaches we’ve seen lately, security best practices are likely to be a hot topic at HIMSS, and I’m curious to see what solutions attendees propose to keep the identities of patients safe from prying eyes.
I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible during the show. If you see me walking around with my pocket recorder and camera, trying to sneak a few photos – please, come say hello. Meeting readers is my favorite part of this job.
Thank you to all of those who have emailed me with your comments and criticism; I’ve genuinely enjoyed the dialogue. As always, I welcome your feedback at [email protected]. And don’t forget to visit HMT (Booth #4857) at HIMSS!
