Chicago, IL - DOTmed reports on the scene at the 2009 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference and Exhibition, held April 4 - 8 at the McCormick Place Convention Center. Check back for more interviews and insights in the coming days about one of the most important events in health care information technology.

The theme of this year's HIMSS is "Architects of Change: Transforming Healthcare through IT. The agenda includes more than 200 education sessions, over 900 exhibitors, and an attendance list of close to 25,700 people.

The most urgent topics on the minds of health informatics professionals this year include the "meaningful use" of economic stimulus as a result of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), interoperability of health IT solutions, and balancing IT innovation and the flow of medical information with HIPAA and CMS accountability.
View From The Top

Several pre-show symposia were held over the weekend for leaders in a number of health IT sectors, including those focused on collaboration between clinical engineers and IT professionals and organizations that unite national and state-level health care programs, such as Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs). Other meetings were held for financial systems leaders involved in all aspects of the health care supply chain.

In addition, an entire series of educational sessions was devoted to the potential impact of the $20 billion of economic stimulus slated for Health IT.

Bracing For Funding

In an exclusive interview, McKesson Chief Operating Officer Sonny Sanyal spoke to DOTmed about a series of company-sponsored CIO and CEO forums designed to engage and solicit feedback from high-level decision makers about ARRA initiatives. There was a common thread of dialogue for each forum of 30-40 executives: how to get upfront funding by grant proposal and other tools in anticipation of the provisions, how "meaningful use" of that funding will be defined by governing and standards organizations overseeing distribution, and how vendors and hospitals should time the implementation of health care technology throughout their institutions.

"The definition of meaningful use is a bar that is currently being set," said Sanyal. "How high should we set that bar? The bar has got to be high enough in order to accomplish the purpose of the package, which is to stimulate health care IT, but if the bar is too high it becomes untenable. Where do you draw the line?"

More Industry Headlines