On Day 2 of HIMSS21, John Lynn and I tried something new. We posted updates throughout the day of our meetings, discussions and observations:
It was our way of sharing the HIMSS experience with those who were not able to join us in-person.
Today is the start of Day 3 and once again I will be posting updates as I tour through the exhibit hall. On purpose, I tried to keep this day free of interviews and pre-arranged meetings. My goal is to find companies that are doing innovative things and I can’t wait to get started.
Embrace Fax
Listening to a panel hosted by Consensus and included representatives from Kno2 and UC Davis about using AI to extract information from unstructured data…specifically faxes. I really loved the no-nonsense statement made by Frank Toscano from Consensus about fax. He stated that we in healthcare should spend as much time trying to enhance fax as we do trying to get rid of it. Toscano rightly pointed out that after 20 years of trying to axe-the-fax, it’s still with us.
For some that’s a sign of failure, but the panel felt that it was a sign of something deeper. Fax is still one of the most effective ways to share health information that is paper-based. It is secure. Everyone knows how to use it. So instead of trying to eliminate fax completely, why not embrace it and integrate it more into the workflow? I think that’s an excellent question to ask ourselves.
Talking HIMSS with Gregg Masters
Go the chance to hang out with good friend Gregg Masters on HealthcareNOW Radio. We chatted about how Twitter helped us make important connections – connections that have since blossomed into life-long friendships and professional relationships. We also spent time reminiscing about the first time we met each other after getting to know one another via Twitter. There is no doubt in my mind that becoming more active and involved on social media has changed my life. I would never have met all the wonderful people in the various #hcldr #HITsm #HITMC #pinksocks #TheWalkingGallery communities if it weren’t for social media.
We also commented on how the booth cattle-call volume on Twitter is waaaaaaay down at #HIMSS21 which is amazing to see and definitely something we hope continues…but stop by Booth 3700 first 🙂
Practical Technology Executed Well
Stopped by CleanSlate’s booth and got my phone disinfected in their device. Very simple process: put your device in the CleanSlate machine, close the lid, wait a few seconds and done. It’s a simple, practical technology executed well. Taylor Mann, Co-Founder & CEO, shared a fantastic story of how their device is part of a “personal cleanliness station” at hospitals. It’s positioned at the entrance to the departmental offices and there is a hand sanitizing unit right next to the CleanSlate device. While waiting for their device to be cleaned, 95% of people take the opportunity to sanitize their hands. A significant improvement over a sanitizer alone.
Bonus: The company is based in Toronto, Canada.
Bias in AI Algorithms is Real
Had an interesting conversation with the team from VIDA Diagnostics who make an AI-powered system that helps organizations with clinical trials and patient care. We spoke about whether bias in AI is a real concern or whether it has been overblown. They assured me it is real and educated me on how the FDA is working to improve the diversity of clinical trials. However, there are no requirements as of yet to ensure a clinical trial is diverse.
Organizations running trials can collect gender and racial information, but do not collect any information on socio-economic status or education levels. To me this sounds like a big gap. If none of this information is available in clinical trial datasets then any AI tools based on those datasets would have the same hidden biases. I say “hidden” because there is no way to know how biased the dataset actually is.
The team at VIDA agrees we need more transparency into healthcare datasets. They also pointed out that AI tools can help people TODAY, so we shouldn’t stop innovating while the industry continues to work on reducing AI biases.
Best Giveaway?
Cruising through the exhibit hall on the hunt for cool giveaways. Not for myself (really!) but for my annual article on that topic for HITMC.com. So far, the water bottle from Cox Business and custom t-shirts from Cylera are the leading candidates.
Things Overheard at HIMSS
- HIMSS COVID Edition is actually pretty good. There are people here who want to be here and they are engaging with the exhibitors.
- It’s all about quality conversations this year, not badge scans. I like this a lot better.
- I’ve never seen this much food choice at a HIMSS…and it’s actually still hot when I eat it.
- I say the quality of booth visitor is 2.5x what it normally is. The people who have stopped by are really interested to learn more vs just stopping for our giveaway.
