Posts Tagged ‘HIMSS’
Google Health Presented at HIMSS
February 29, 2008
Eric Schmidt and Roni Zeiger presented Google Health at a keynote session at HIMSS in Orlando this morning.
Key points included:
- it’s the consumer’s data, the user has control
- it needs to have ease of use – the user interface must be immediately useful
- the benefit of consumer interoperability is significant
- cloud computing will allow the storage of medical records including large files like images, “easy” to accomplish for Google (200 petabytes of xrays per year not a problem)
- adoption of new consumer products are typically 5% the first year but 80-90% in 10 years
- developers are invited to create new tools around the platform of Google Health. How about child immunization records, managing the health information and medication for your elderly parent in another state.
With this kind of optimism, could adoption exceed expectations?
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Report from HIMSS – Consumer Health
February 28, 2008
It has been a busy week in Orlando. The 24,000 attendees have packed sessions and the exhibit hall. More attention is being paid to consumer health issues particularly through keynote speakers like Steve Case from Revolution Health and Eric Schmidt of Google. Google and Carepages among others are exhibiting. The PHR Committee has a significant presence with several sessions focusing on PHRs. What is missing is content on Health/Web 2.0. There was a session on open source in radiology but not much else. My hope is that a Special Interest Group on Open Source and Web 2.0 be established in the future.
The acknowledgment of the importance of empowering consumers is a significant move for HIMSS which does not directly serve consumers.
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HIMSS 2007 – best coverage
March 4, 2007
Neil Versel’s Healthcare IT Blog has some interesting coverage of HIMSS because of his podcasts of interviews with the CEO of Athena Health and HIMSS Analytics. Quick Blog: Blog Administration HIMSS 07 Online Daily has some major stories including coverage of the keynote speakers.
The Healtcare IT Guy has a nice review of Tolven PHR open source running on a smart phone (more on this later).
And Medical Connectivity Consulting has some product reviews including COW, computers on wheels and the buzz about connectivity.
Also, check out Flickr for photos and YouTube/Google Video.
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HIMSS – A Limited Showing for Web 2.0
March 4, 2007
Looking at educational sessions and vendor presentations, Web 2.0 made a relatively minor appearance. There was one session on Wikis, my eSession with Jack Mason (Healthnex blog) and maybe one other. Perhaps this should not be surprising in that the large vendors representing proprietary applications rather than open source. Open source was represented by the VA’s VistA EMR. Revolution Health was mentioned by Colin Powell who in on their board. While Web 2.0 does not offer core functionality to healthcare yet, blogs, wikis, social networking and tagging have future capabilities yet to be discovered. Maybe Steve Case should keynote next year and stir things up.
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Report from HIMSS – Microsoft’s New Commitment to Healthcare
February 27, 2007
In addition to Steve Ballmer keynoting at HIMSS ’07, two announcements from Microsoft demonstrate this new commitment.
- Microsoft announced its planned purchase of the Medstory health search engine
- Their strategy is outlined in a Q&A for journalists
In addition, there is a lot of interest in Azyxxi.
The text of Ballmer’s speech is now available.
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Report from HIMSS – Government Initiatives in Health IT – simplify
February 27, 2007
The keynote at HIMSS ’07 this morning, Phil Bredesen, Governor of Tennessee, had 3 recommendations for moving ahead with interoperability. At the risk of being accused of oversimplifying, he boldly suggested that we 1) simplify our goals for information exchange, such as, just focusing on eprescribing using simplified standards, 2) establish a beachhead instead of trying to do everything, and find solutions which are acceptable to everyone, not just early adopters or large academic medical centers. I was impressed with his understanding of IT, his willingness to research current IT standards and his knowledge of the business.
By the way, check out Tim Gee’s coverage of HIMSS ’07 including photos.
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HIMSS 2007 Activities
January 27, 2007
HIMSS 2007 is coming up in a month. I have three main activities there:
- an eSession on Web 2.0: Beyond Open Source – As an emerging technology, Web 2.0, which includes blogs, podcasts and other tools, has the advantage of ease of implementation and ease of use. Sound implementation strategies will be discussed. (with Jack Mason of IBM HealthNex)
- a Roundtable – Online Patient Interaction: The Growing Use of Patient Portals – This roundtable discussion session will focus on the features and functions of the growing number of patient-centered portals offered by
healthcare provider and payor organizations. With Deborah Kohn of Dak Systems Consulting - the eHealth Special Interest Group which I chair
Looks like it will be an interesting time especially in the city rising from the ashes.

