HIMSS24 – A View from 1upHealth

Each year, HIMSS’ annual conference brings together healthcare trailblazers from around the world to discuss the hottest topics in healthcare and unveil cutting-edge health technologies. The 2024 event – HIMSS24 – was no different. As a proud sponsor of the event, 1upHealth took full advantage of the chance to share thought leadership, network with passionate professionals across the healthcare ecosystem, and introduce our leading FHIR® data platform to those in the market for a solution to their interoperability challenge(s). Here’s a look at what happened at this year’s event. 

Key Themes at HIMSS24

There was no shortage of topics covered at this year’s event, but a few topics stood out to us: 

• Artificial Intelligence (AI): It will come as a surprise to absolutely no one that AI was the biggest topic at this year’s event. From its potential to improve care and decrease administrative burden, to ethical and safety concerns, to the newest and most promising AI technology on the market, no stone was left unturned on the topic of AI over the course of the conference. 

• Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity has been a big concern for the industry historically, made even more relevant given the recent cyberattack on Change Healthcare, which happened a few weeks back and continues to wreak havoc on the industry. 

• Digital Health: Digital health continues to hold so much promise for the industry. From wearables and sensors to applications of all kinds, digital health companies are tackling some of the stickiest challenges in healthcare today, including care coordination, care equity, data exchange, and patient engagement, to name a few. 

• Interoperability: And, last but not least, our favorite theme – healthcare interoperability – was an extremely hot topic again this year. No abbreviations were left unspoken – from FHIR and QHIN to HL7 and USCDI – and we were excited to see the greatest minds in the industry working hard to solve healthcare’s toughest interoperability challenges. 

1upHealth at HIMSS24

Beyond taking in all the amazing thought leadership, 1upHealth’s regulatory and health data exchange experts were very busy sharing amazing interoperability success stories and the technology behind all that success. Here’s a quick recap of our time at HIMSS. 

Primary Record at the 1upHealth Booth

1upHealth customer Primary Record spent time in our booth sharing success stories and demoing their amazing app that serves as a medical homebase for families. Primary Record representatives shared how, with 1up Patient Connect, they’re able to help their customers securely connect to patient portals, compile health data in one place, and share it – simplifying the management of health information for families. 

Recent Primary Record success stories include helping:

• Parents better coordinate the specialists they see for their toddler with Down Syndrome.

• A college-age kid living with a rare disease move two hours away and allow his mother and father to rest a little easier at night.

• A nurse advocate in Maryland empower daughters to positively impact the care of their aging parents.

• A pediatrician working with Children’s National in DC to find ways to bridge the gap between primary care and specialists for medically complex kids to ensure their care is easier to navigate for their families.

The FHIRBall Pavilion

As a member of the FHIR Business Alliance (FHIRBall) – a group of companies that have joined forces to drive the healthcare industry forward by spreading the use of FHIR – 1upHealth also put up shop in the FHIRBall Pavilion to educate interested conference goers on the benefits of the 1up FHIR Platform and our range of products. Over the course of the event, several hundred people stopped by the FHIRBall Pavilion, demonstrating industry acceptance of the FHIR standard in interoperability and data exchange. 

Da Vinci Interoperability Showcase Spotlight Sessions

1upHealth had two spotlight sessions at the Da Vinci Interoperability Showcase at HIMSS24. Those sections included: 

FHIR APIs and the CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule. This session featured 1upHealth Chief Strategy Officer Dr. Donald Rucker and Point-of-Care Partners Payer Practice Lead Jocelyn Keegan. Key takeaways from this session included:

• Government regulators are forcing the hand of CMS-regulated payers, who are going to have to make a sizable investment to comply with the new Interoperability and Prior Authorization final rule. They should use the rule to its highest best purpose. Do more than check the box. Really strive for transformation.

• Be thoughtful about leveraging data as individual resources or records. Shift away from documentation to focus on what is needed in tight interactions or trust sharing with partners to reduce burden.

• If your current vendor isn’t talking to you this way, maybe you need a new vendor.

Ready for Regs: The Modern Data Stack for Healthcare is Here. This session featured 1upHealth CEO Joe Gagnon, 1upHealth CTO Pieter De Leenheer, and Oscar Health Director of Product Erin Landau. Key takeaways of this session included: 

• The newest CMS interoperability regulations are the catalyst for the new era of health data exchange, with the power to fundamentally change how healthcare is delivered.

• The role that data will play in managing one’s health is more crucial than ever, and access to quality data is critical here.

• How a modern, innovative health plan thinks about using FHIR data to create powerful, differentiated member experiences that empower members to manage their health. 

• The right, enabling technology infrastructure to manage the entire health data value chain, maintain data integrity, and power analytics, AI, and machine learning (ML).

It’s Time for a Short Rest

All in all, HIMSS24 did not disappoint. We’re looking forward to a bit of rest before we hit the road again to continue to spread the good word about FHIR, 1upHealth, and the future of healthcare interoperability.