HIMSS16- TRANSFORMING HEALTH THROUGH IT

With 43,000 attendees at last year conference, Health Information and Management Systems Society has become one of the largest group of IT professionals in healthcare section. HIMSS is a platform for connecting with thousands of industry leaders and other health IT professionals. The society is currently holding its annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada , with everything between analytics, telehealth, patient outreach, identity validation and population health management on its agenda.

HIMSS16 announced many programs including launching an app, to help the attendees with advance preparation and direction to the exhibition hall which covers 1.3 million square feet of space.

Annual Most Influential Women in Health IT Award:

Acknowledging women empowerment and advancement as one of its priority, HIMSS announced an ‘Annual Most Influential Women in Health IT Award’, on its first day which will recognize influential women at all stages of their health IT career. The jury will consist of top women leaders who will determine the nomination guidelines across different categories and select winners.

Carla Smith, executive vice president of HIMSS said, “We are committed to empowering and advancing high-performing professionals in our mission to improve health through the best use of IT. We’ve made it a priority to provide community, resources and appreciation to women who have made and continue to make significant contributions to the field.”

The society also came up with several new initiatives in recognition of the contribution that womenfolk have made in health and IT and mentioned that it is committed to appending gender-focused sources for networking, mentoring and career advancement. Some of the programs announced include networking Reception, Empowering Women in Health IT through Recognition, resources, and access, curated content, and resources via a special section on HealthcareITNews.com. HIMSS is also planning to issue a monthly eNewsletter, featuring private content and career resources dedicated to women.

Adjustable Patient Check-In Kiosk:

The kiosk is built by Olea’s Verona Healthcare to address the needs of both patients and providers and every feature and component is fully HIPAA and ADA-compliant. Designed and developed specifically for use in the healthcare setting the kiosk is built as a turn-key solution and is compatible with all major healthcare software platforms, including Epic, PatientWorks, Siemens, and McKesson. This will ensure that the patient participation through the kiosk can be easily integrated with a provider’s existing internal record keeping systems.

Optional components of the Verona include a barcode scanner, web camera, Wi-Fi adapter, and audio headphone jack. These optional features allow the unit to be customized to accommodate the security standards and accessibility needs of any provider.

Telehealth:

Teladoc, a Texas-based company is targeting a particular sore spot in healthcare: the shortage of behavioral health providers. The company launched a behavioral telehealth platform that offers on-demand online access – including phone- and video-based consults – to a stable of some 850 behavioral health providers. “This platform has been created for convenience and comfort,” said Julian L. Cohen, who heads Teladoc Behavioral Health stating that more than 130 million behavioral health sessions each year could be better addressed via telehealth than the typical trip to the therapist’s office.

Software Development Kit by American Well:

American Well, a leading, national telehealth services provider and creator of Amwell for online doctor visits, exhibited the first-ever mobile Telehealth Software Development Kit (SDK) on the first day of HIMSS conference. With the Telehealth Mobile SDK, virtually any health brand – including hospitals, insurers, retailers or medical publishers – can add online doctor visits into their native mobile apps, making on-demand care a part of their owned consumer experience.“The SDK is a game changer for how consumers will access online healthcare in the future,” said Dr. Roy Schoenberg, CEO, and co-founder, American Well. “For the first time, any company with a consumer-facing health application can embed online doctor visits into that app – making telehealth an integral part of their own brand experience. Not only does this build brand loyalty with consumers by offering a compelling service, it makes online healthcare easier to access than ever before.”

“The SDK is a game changer for how consumers will access online healthcare in the future,” said Dr. Roy Schoenberg, CEO, and co-founder, American Well. “For the first time, any company with a consumer-facing health application can embed online doctor visits into that app – making telehealth an integral part of their own brand experience. Not only does this build brand loyalty with consumers by offering a compelling service, it makes online healthcare easier to access than ever before.”

Added Dr. Schoenberg, “We believe one day every consumer will use telehealth with their doctor, and the SDK is our guarantee that future is imminent.”