HIMSS makes European move

Nine European organisations and HIMSS, the US-based Health Information and Management Systems Society, have combined to produce a new conference, the World of Healthcare IT.

The first meeting will be held in Geneva on 10-13 October and organisers promise it will be the ‘first of its kind’ bringing together major European institutions and e-health organisations for an event focused on the experiences of deployed services and the proven benefits of IT-led change in delivering improved quality and efficiency.

HIMSS chief executive, Steve Leiber, told a press briefing at the US HIMSS meeting in San Diego this week: “There is a desire to bring the industry together across national boundaries to create an event for experts to come together to share practice and experience.”

He said he recognised the fragmented nature of the European health market but emphasised the common ground between countries with shared concerns about patient safety, medical errors, the quality of care and continuity of care. At European meetings, he said “you can sit down and think you are in the US.”

Ten organisations – co-ordined by the European Commission, HIMSS, the WHO and the European Institute fro Health Records (EUROREC) are co-organising the event. Other participating organisations are: the European Cooordination Committee of the Radiological, Electromedical and Healthcare IT Industry (COCIR); the European Health Telematics Association (EHTEL) and the Health Information Network Europe (HINE).

Other organisations serving as advisers to the EC and the WHO for the conference include the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME); the European Health Management Association (EHMA) and the European Hospital and Healthcare Federation (HOPE).

Leiber said it would be a HIMSS-style conference that recognised the diverse nature of European markets.

What can participants expect? HIMSS’ annual meeting in the US is something of a phenomenon in the healthcare IT world. This year’s meeting in San Diego, California, had registered nearly 24,000 attendees before lunch on the first day – a figure that didn’t include those left stranded by snow storms on the US east coast.

Over 800 vendors packed all available space in the half mile long San Diego Convention Center and there wasn’t a hotel room to be had in town on the meeting’s peak days. Hundreds of conference sessions offered everything from keynote addresses by leading names to detailed presentations on local developments; from e-sessions to pre-conference workshops.

Along with laptops, BlackBerrys and every mobile device under the sun, delegates, exhibitors and organisers agree that the ‘must-haves’ are a pair of comfortable shoes, a clear view of what you want to see and do and a great deal of stamina.