It’s hard to believe that yet another year has passed and we are once again upon our industry’s largest event: the annual Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference.  As in years past, ONC will have a significant presence at the conference.

My Highlight: The Interoperability Showcase

One of the things I’m most excited about is this year’s Interoperability Showcase. Over the past 3 years, the Federal Health Architecture (FHA) and ONC have coordinated a set of demonstrations as part of the Showcase.

This year’s ONC/FHA area of the Interoperability Showcase at the HIMMS 2013 Conference is the largest we’ve seen to date, and represents the broad array of work being done in support of interoperability across the country.  In fact, I think the Showcase parallels nicely with my recent blog posts about the definition of interoperability and ONC’s interoperability strategy, as well as other significant ONC programs and initiatives.

Over 50 kiosks will be set up, featuring 27 demonstrations of technology solutions that support interoperable health information exchange.  Participants include federal partners, state HIE programs, beacon communities, and private sector organizations that are all eager to share their vision of health information technology solutions that support improved patient care and outcomes.

Here’s a preview of what you’ll see at this year’s Interoperability Showcase:

• We’ll have strong representation from our federal partners who will be demonstrating use cases with:
  • eHealth Exchange
  • Direct, and
  • the S&I Framework’s Data Segmentation for Privacy (DS4P) initiative.
• Blue Button + will have demonstrations highlighting the work to develop standardized access to personal health data, a key initiative that spans the areas of technology and consumer engagement.
• We’ll have the first live demonstrations of CONNECT 4.0, the latest version of the open source software gateway that has been a significant focus of FHA over the past few years.
• ONC’s Beacon Community and State HIE programs will also have an important presence in conjunction with private organizations.  They’ll be demonstrating everything from peer-to-peer health information exchange using CONNECT and SHARP demonstrations to work with clinical quality measures and health information exchange using Direct.
• The S&I Framework will be well represented with demonstrations of:
  • Automate Blue Button Initiative
  • Query Health
  • DS4P
  • Direct
  • PopHealth and more!

So as you can see, our area of the Showcase will reflect the incredible work being done in the public and private sectors to improve healthcare through the use of interoperable health information exchange.

The Interoperability Showcase Location at the HIMMS 2013 Conference:

This year’s Showcase will be located in the La Nauvelle Orleans Ballroom on the 2^nd floor of the Morial Convention Center.

We hope to see you at the showcase!

I hope that everyone reading this post – and attending the conference – will take the opportunity to tour the Showcase and spend time to learn about the work being done across the country on the journey toward interoperability.

You should also see our Meaningful Use Experience

ONC will also be participating in this year’s first-ever Meaningful Use Experience.  This is a special demonstration area on the exhibit floor that puts you in the middle of certified EHR solutions – including Complete EHR and EHR modules. ONC will have representatives available to ask questions and discuss ONC programs.

Or come to ONC’s Town Hall Event

In terms of education sessions, ONC will host a town hall event on Monday, March 4 from 12:15-1:15 CST in New Orleans C.

We will do a quick overview of some of the critical work being done in the office, and then open it up for a robust question and answer session.  This event is always very well attended, so I’d encourage folks to arrive early to get their seat.

Other sessions will focus on policy presentations and initiatives related to Meaningful Use, consumer e-Health and ongoing ONC projects.

ONC is Going to HIMMS 2013 to Listen to You

We are also hosting a series of listening sessions to hear from key stakeholders what challenges they are facing.

I particularly enjoy the session on Interoperability & Health Information Exchange, as it gives me an opportunity to reflect on the work we’re doing and to confirm that our priorities are appropriately aligned with the needs of the community.

Meet you at HIMSS 2013!

It’s going to be a very full week in New Orleans.  I hope to see many of you there, and encourage you to participate in all the ONC events to learn about all of the important work being done across the country in support of the adoption and use of interoperable health IT.