Preview of HIMSS 2012

Collaboration, trust in platforms, and application of social media are key health IT trends.

I am very happy to be attending the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference this year. We are at a pivotal moment in the history of healthcare in this country and health IT is playing a very prominent role. This will be one of the most important healthcare conferences of the year. If you can't make it to Las Vegas in person, there are opportunities to attend virtually. Just go to himssvirtual.org for more information.

I will be moderating panel presentations at the HIMSS Social Media Center on Tuesday and Wednesday. This year I expect social media to play a much larger presence in the conference, and the new location for the pavilion will put it front and center. Since the keynote this year is from one of the founders of Twitter, Biz Stone, I'm sure there will be a social media flavor throughout the event.

I will also be participating in the brand new eCollaboration Forum at HIMSS on Thursday. The Collaborative Health Consortium has partnered with HIMSS to sponsor a new, exclusive event focused on the shift to collaborative care platforms to take place at the conference. The event will focus on collaborative platforms as foundations for transformation to accountable care. Attendees will be able to learn what a collaborative healthcare platform is and why the healthcare industry needs it, discover paths to take to effectively implement collaborative technologies, and get further resources to help evaluate the solutions available in the shift toward an accountable care health model.