Wednesday, March 6, 2013

President Clinton speaks at #HIMSS13 today

Today, President Clinton delivered a keynote and the entire auditorium was completely packed and all the overflow areas were full as well. When you have 35,000 people in the New Orleans convention center, that's what you get: a very crowded room that overflows.

He spoke about a number of public health topics ranging from worldwide healthcare disparities, the pediatric obesity epidemic, and the need to provide patients with their own health data so that they can be empowered to manage their own health. He also emphasized the importance to understand people who are different from us. Very different from us. For example, do you know anyone who doesn't have health insurance? How about people in a different socioeconomic status? A different ethnicity? How well do you know and understand these people? How well do you understand how they are navigating the health care system in this country?

I admit that the health care system is a very confusing system for anyone to navigate. We are all consumers of the system and even health care professionals get confused with the processes, the paperwork, the billing, the insurance forms, and more.

Today, HIMSS announced the New Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action - an extension of the Clinton Global Initiative that HIMSS joined in September 2012 to advance its work on its Healthcare Transformation Project. The Healthcare Transformation brings senior healthcare provider leaders together, with year-round events, research and networking, as they decide and act upon their own commitments to action.



There are so many ways that health IT can improve clinical outcomes. We need to put greater emphasis on disease prevention and population health management. We need to work with our children to make sure that they are eating right and exercising regularly. We need to close the gaps in healthcare disparities. And we need to help those around the globe who have greater health needs and fewer resources.

HIMSS13 coverage is sponsored by HP. HP’s extensive portfolio of products, solutions, services and relationships can help your healthcare organization achieve quality business practices and provide quality patient care.

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