POCP Blog

By Tony Schueth

Didn’t make it to HIMSS16 in Vegas? If you did go but couldn’t make it to all the sessions or exhibits, the Point-of-Care Partners team has saved you some money and shoe leather. Here are our takes on the top 10 trends at HIMSS16 (for more detail, see our article in the April HIT Perspectives).

1. The little guys got invited to the table. Historically, HIMSS has been dominated by large EHR and revenue cycle vendors. It was different this year. HIMSS16’s exhibits included many trend setters, innovators and start-ups, which showcased a lot of cool technology.
2. Telehealth hits the big time. We’ve been saying for several years that telehealth is poised for broad growth. We feel validated because developments in telehealth technologies were a major focus of HIMSS16.
3. Behavioral health is getting connected. Vendors focused on behavioral health services were newly evident this year — and in a big way. We believe this prominence marks a growing overall interest in —and need for — technologies to address the high cost and disjointed care of patients with various behavioral health issues.
4. Expect more specialty-related EHRs. Behavioral health EHRs are demonstrative of the growth in specialty-specific EHRs. These continue to gain in popularity and are benefiting from the robust replacement EHR market as specialists abandon “general purpose” EHRs for systems designed specifically to their unique work flows.
5. MU3 was MIA. We were surprised to see that meaningful use (MU) stage 3 was not on anyone’s lips at this gigantic meeting of EHRs and provider organizations. This may be because many stakeholders believe it is dead and have moved on. Not so fast. MU3 has effectively been folded as a component of the new Medicare Incentive Payment System (MIPS). (For details, see our article in the February 2016 issue of HIT Perspectives).
6. There seemed to be fewer major announcements. HIMSS traditionally has been the place for major announcements about new initiatives and products. There were some at HIMSS16, but not as many as in the past.
7. Yet some big announcements were made. Despite the size of the meeting and the noise surrounding it, some big initiatives were unveiled. These primarily were from the federal government and included:

• HHS announced an industry initiative to further health data interoperability, information sharing, and patient engagement.
• The Medicaid program is making funding available to promote HIE and encourage the adoption of certified EHR technology by Medicaid providers. “Seriously, this really is a B.F.D.,” tweeted Jon White, MD, ONC’s acting deputy director.
• ONC and the HHS also made a variety of announcements: a Proposed Rule to Support the Reliability, Transparency, Accountability, and Safety of Certified Health IT; the availability of $625,000 to spur the development of market-ready, user-friendly software applications for consumers and health care providers; and a new model privacy notice.

8. There were no new buzzwords this year. HIMSS meetings usually have a dominant buzzword or two. Not this year. The big catchphrases and concepts from the past—like Big Data, transparency and precision medicine—didn’t disappear. Instead, stakeholders spent a lot of time explaining how these concepts are being translated into action.
9. Data analytics is still going strong. The appetite for turning large data sets into actionable information was evident at HIMSS16, even though enthusiasm has waned for the “Big Data” buzzword. The usual and not-so-usual suspects are turning their focus to clinical data rather than concentrating on selling software. Nontraditional health companies are staking their claims, while others are reinventing themselves to make another run at this opportunity.
10. Nontraditional stakeholders had a bigger presence. Pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and biotechnology firms continued to have an expanded presence at HIMSS16. We saw them on a mission to learn and absorb the details and benefits of health IT.

See you next year in Orlando!

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