The HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition is one of the most influential health information technology events of the year that brings together more than 40,000 professionals throughout the global health ecosystem to discuss the latest trends in health IT.
Hosted by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the event unites thought leaders, disruptors and changemakers representing every sector across the global health information and technology spectrum.
Members of the RavenTek team were among these thought leaders and disruptors in attendance. Following is a discussion of the team’s biggest takeaways from this year’s show and what got them excited for the future of healthcare technology.
Getting Back to Normal
“Due to the pandemic and many people working from home, it’s been difficult to meet with our partners and customers in person for quite some time,” said Makenna McGrann, account executive for RavenTek. “HIMSS 2023 gave the RavenTek team the opportunity to discuss with them face-to-face their technology and health data challenges and how our RavenVISION solution can help.”
RavenTek has a history of attending HIMSS with a focus on building strong partner relationships to support the technology needs of hospitals and healthcare systems worldwide. The team agreed that this year’s event, hosted in Chicago, finally felt back to a pre-pandemic ‘normal,’ and that—though many common themes spilled over from previous shows—the chatter was all about the role of AI in the patient experience.
Digital Transformation in Healthcare
“Every company exhibiting at HIMSS was showcasing a data-driven platform,” comments Ryan Coleman, Vice President of Commercial Sales for the company. “Unlocking the full potential of data is a massive opportunity and domain experience is required to identify the value drivers for healthcare, specifically.”
RavenTek’s RavenVISION solution was designed to help organizations do just that—to be more proactive with their data by aggregating and analyzing security and operational data from existing IT infrastructure, security and network investments. As a result, it has the potential to enable healthcare organizations to make informed, data-driven decisions that ultimately improve the patient experience.
“It’s all about interoperability,” said Coleman. “Greater interoperability and data sharing are crucial to improving patient care and advancing medical research. However, from PII/PHI and privacy concerns to identifying who owns the risk and getting patient permission to share their data, digital health is complex, complicated and messy. Everyone is talking AI/ML and even Chat GPT, but no one knows if they have a foundation to support it or access to the right data in the first place.”
And while interoperability is critical, embracing observability—the true power behind RavenVISION—still seems to have a long way to go in the healthcare industry. Coleman adds, “Zero Trust was just starting to enter the conversation last year, and observability as an industry term is implied but not used explicitly. Individual platforms know they need to make sure they are delivering positive digital experiences for patients, clinicians and health systems alike. Observability as a driver for these digital experiences, however, was nowhere to be found.”
Additional topics discussed were cybersecurity, telehealth and patient engagement. “The increasing number of cyberattacks and data breaches in healthcare underscores the need for robust cybersecurity measures,” said Coleman. “For RavenTek, the HIMSS 2023 conference emphasized implementing encryption protocols, regular security audits, staff training, and comprehensive cybersecurity plans.”
And of course, the pandemic accelerated the implementation of telehealth and virtual care, but these services aren’t yet integrated with electronic medical records and, equitable access to them as well as better patient engagement are growing issues that still need to be addressed.
“Patients are looking for a consumer-like experience when visiting clinics, hospitals, and urgent care,” says Kara Edwards, RavenTek Field CTO. “It was clear that technology can help in these areas but there are many gaps across the ecosystem that need to be improved.”
