March 11, 2016
It’s hard to summarize the amount of activity at Aria over the last several weeks, but I’ll certainly try to give you a glimpse. After months of preparation, five of us flew down to Vegas to represent 10 clients and staff over 100 meetings at HIMSS16. This year’s conference brought together over 41,000 healthcare and health IT professionals, and the halls of the Sands Expo Center were buzzing with activity. Here’s just a few highlights:
- With the increasing cyber threat facing provider organizations, health data security was top of mind at the show.Mac McMillian, CEO of CynergisTek, discussed how to “beef up security practices” with journalists and key industry influencers at the show, and was even featured in two podcasts on the topic: one with Physician’s Practice and one with Health Info Security. In each podcast, Mac explained how healthcare organizations can take several steps to increase security education efforts and protect against ransomware attacks.
- Jeff Kaplan, Chief Strategy Officer at ZirMed, shared his top takeaways from HIMSS in a blog post on ElectronicHealthReporter.com. Jeff noted that there was a growing number of meaningful discussions on data analytics as providers focus on increasing patient outcomes while driving down costs. ZirMed also launched its Remit and Deposit Management Solution at HIMSS which received coverage in Healthcare IT News and Becker’s Hospital Review.
- Micky Tripathi, CEO of Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, presented two different educational sessions at HIMSS focusing on HL7’s Argonaut project and innovative data exchange. Micky also shared insight on interoperability and FHIR implementation with reporters from Bloomberg BNA, POLITICO and Healthcare Informatics.
- SA Ignite launched its new IgniteQ platform and PQRS ASSISTANT software to further simplify and automate the management of complex value-based payment programs. The potential impact of the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and other quality reporting programs was a hot topic at the show. In an interview with FierceHealthIT, SA Ignite client and CIO of St. Luke’s Health System, Deborah Gash, explained how her organization is preparing for these new requirements.
- Orion Health’s clients, Scottsdale Health Partners and Cal INDEX, delivered presentations at HIMSS that touched on two of this year’s major themes: interoperability and population health’s evolution into precision medicine. At its booth, Orion also demonstrated how its Amadeus platform and Rhapsody Integration Engine can drastically improve the patient experience and care outcomes. Leading up to the show, Orion also announced several new client wins and its appointment of Wayne Oxenham as President, North America.
In addition to all of the above and more, we also had time to experience the excitement of Vegas. We celebrated another successful HIMSS show with an Aria team dinner at China Poblano where we enjoyed a unique and delicious mix of Chinese and Mexican food. We also took time in the evenings to connect with clients, network with old and new friends and recap each day’s events. Cheers to another successful HIMSS for our clients and for Aria!
