My 5 Key Takeaways from HIMSS25 

HIMSS25 is in the books and it was my first HIMSS since the height of the pandemic way, way back in 2021. Back when masks were everywhere (and honestly I didn’t mind them when walking through the casinos), when the conference greeting was some kind of awkward elbow or sneaker bump, and when hand sanitizer became the de facto swag giveaway. While a lot has changed since then in healthcare (an understatement), there are some themes and areas that have remained mostly the same.

This year there were nearly 30,000 attendees from 88 countries, over 600 panels and education sessions, and nearly 1,000 exhibitors encapsulating one of the largest industries and its global nature. HIMSS’ Annual Conferences (HIMSS) are massive, reflecting how much money gets spent on healthcare in the US, taking up nearly 18% of our GDP. 

HIMSS is one of the year’s most unique gatherings of providers, payers, vendors, pharma, government, and more, and results in some exceptional sessions and discussions (both planned and ad hoc). 

In this blog, I wanted to highlight my 5 key takeaways from HIMSS25.

#1 FHIR is no longer a niche acronym 

The first version of FHIR came out back in 2013, which is scarily already 11 years ago. Since that time, FHIR has had its ups and downs as far as expectations versus reality played out, but the general trend and momentum behind the standard is undeniable. 

Back at HIMSS21, some folks knew what FHIR was, but you usually had to clarify key points and have more conversations to explain what FHIR is and why it’s important.

At HIMSS25, FHIR was a key part of the interoperability lexicon. There were 70 sessions that related to FHIR in some way. We’ve now moved past explaining what FHIR is and why it’s important, to the more exciting topics like how it can actually be used in practice to improve healthcare. And our booth’s central FHIRplace was by far the most complimented aspect.

#2 AI is ubiquitous

AI has been a key theme at HIMSS for years so that’s nothing new. However, it does seem to be past the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” as applications of AI in healthcare are becoming more tangible, less hypothetical, and with a clearer ability to tie to real concrete ROI. 

There were many, many sessions where AI was the main topic (including one I attended about how the Saudi Arabian Council of Health Insurance is using AI to improve prior authorization efficiency), but even when AI wasn’t the main topic, it was almost always referenced or in some way related.

Overall AI is only as good as the data it’s trained on. And this further highlights the need to free up data from its siloes so it can be used to train all these AI models to positively influence care and cost.  

#3 Unfortunately, the fax machine is still around 

Healthcare is quite possibly the only industry where a booth from a vendor with cutting-edge generative AI can be located next to a booth from a vendor focused on fax-based solutions.

It’s a running punch line in the industry, but the fax machine remains one of the tools relied on for Provider-Payer workflows. And while there are plenty of better technical alternatives, it does highlight the inertia we all have to strive to overcome to make change happen.

#4 Government uncertainty reigns

I’m going to… DOGE… making any political comments in this blog…No one has any inside scoop and companies seem to be in a similar position of “wait and worry” when it comes to the fates of NIH, CMS, ASTP (formerly ONC), the VA, and other government-related healthcare programs amid the new administration’s swift actions since taking office. 

But the problems of healthcare (tightening margins, unmet consumer expectations, a lack of transparency relative to other industries, etc.) are not political, and there was generally a feeling that the show must go on, and we all have a part to play in improving this immense industry.

#5 Interoperability is a team sport

While healthcare remains competitive and the level of distrust between payers, providers, and patients remains high, there were some nice examples of the collaborative nature of healthcare, particularly around interoperability.

In one of the most informative sessions of the conference, Aneesh Chopra convened an off-the-books, open dialog session that has become an annual HIMSS tradition. This included individuals from major EHRs, large health systems, large payers, interoperability vendors, the VA, and more. 

The topics discussed were far ranging, from bulk export in practice to how we make FHIR pilots real and how we continue industry group momentum regardless of political uncertainty. One of the heartening examples of collaboration was around how a VA API on Veteran status is being used by pilot health systems to verify if a patient is a veteran, and changing their processes accordingly, including not sending veterans to collections for overdue bills.

Overall the session left me with a sense of how interoperability and the use cases it enables cross competitive lines for the greater good, and 2025 is poised to be a big year for real pilot implementations and adoption.

The future of healthcare is bright when data flows freely

If we fast forwarded another 4 years to HIMSS29, I’m sure we’ll still be talking about some of these same topics. However, HIMSS25 left me feeling refreshed and optimistic that we have come a long way, and have tons of energy and brainpower invested in improving healthcare from top to bottom. And the day when data freely flows, follows a patient throughout their care journey, and helps influence the right decisions at the right time is becoming closer and closer to reality.

I’m proud to be part of an organization that is making healthcare better for all, through better data. Right in front of us are the CMS-0057 regulations for Patient Access, Provider Access, Payer-to-Payer Data Exchange, and Prior Authorization, where we’re focused on not just meeting compliance, but also adding value to reduce costs, increase revenue, and improve the member experience. I’m excited to start to see meaningful adoption and pilots this year and having something to brag about at HIMSS26.

Reach out to learn more about how we can work together and help your organization acquire, manage, and exchange health data more efficiently. We’d love to have another co-presenter for a success story at the next conference!