At the Government Health IT Conference & Exhibition 2013 next week, the apex of all the tracks, breakout sessions and likely hallway conversations will be engaging patients while lowering care costs.
Government Health IT Editor Tom Sullivan spoke with JoAnn Klinedinst, vice president of professional development at HIMSS, which runs the conference, about hot topics certain to be discussed, the show’s three tracks, what has changed since last year, and the keynote she is most excited about.
Q: What will be the overarching theme of this year's show?
A: The intersection of care delivery. It’s essentially the Triple Aim of better care for individuals and improved population health at a lower cost. And it’s about equipping and engaging patients and providers to ensure the availability of better care at an affordable cost.
Q: Within that theme of 'Equipping Patients and Providers for Better Outcomes', what are the main pillars or technologies that the show will focus on?
A: We have three tracks: Track 1 is ‘Delivering Better Care at a Lower Cost’ and then Track 2 is ‘Engaging with Consumers as a Care Partner.’ So the technologies in our first track, certainly interoperability is a component, population health is another component, and health information exchange is a component. Another piece of this is leveraging the data that’s already collected through data mining and analytics.
So interoperability, HIE, and big data/analytics are three topics for Day 1, and then on Day 2 we expand that to focus on measuring quality as well as the whole aspect of patient identity and health records. So Day 2 is about the outgrowth of interoperability and standards, health information exchange, and healthcare data analytics.
And then Track 2, on engaging patients, mHealth is absolutely important and the whole mobile side of healthcare. We also have lessons learned from the Beacon Community programs, so they have a whole host of things to discuss from the technology perspective. One of the presenters, in fact, will talk about engaging patients in care by using technology.
Q: The healthcare industry has gained enough innovation momentum that even the mainstream media, Thomas Friedman in The New York Times particularly, has started writing about it. Those of us in the healthcare trenches were not surprised at all by his recent column. Relative to that, what hot new technologies will be buzzing around the conference?
A: In our third track, on industry solutions, we have an update on IBM Watson for Health and what IBM is doing there. Siemens CEO John Glaser will be sharing IT ramifications in the era of accountability. And we have Harry Greenspun, MD, who will be talking about mHealth and how that will impact the industry.
Q: A question worth asking every year before this conference: How has the federal health IT landscape changed since last year's show?
A: It has definitely changed. The federal landscape embodies those racing to meet the changing federal and state regulations, while struggling with tightening budgets, sequestration, and mandates to improve care and reduce cost — all while expanding access to millions of new patients.
Q: Finally, here, what else should show attendees expect? Who are the big keynoters?
A: We have updates from Congressional representatives. And we’re really excited about our opening keynote — it’s Virginia Senator Mark Warner. We also have a panel of Military CIOs including David Bowen of the Military Health System and Commander Cayetano S.Thornton, who is CIO of Navy Medicine.
Editor’s Note: The Government Health IT Conference & Exhibition 2013 will be held June 11 and 12 at the Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown.
See also:
HIMSS announces advisory panel for Government Health IT Conference 2013
