As most of you know, at Healthcare IT Today, we attend and track a long list of health IT conferences throughout the year. During COVID that list got even longer as pretty much everyone was offering some sort of virtual event. While each event has its own culture, community, and approach, one event that we’ve been fascinated with is the Hospital & Healthcare I.T. Conference that is organized by Health Connect Partners (HCP).
They just announced their Spring Hospital & Healthcare I.T. Conference that will be happening in New Orleans (May 16-18) at that Hyatt Regency New Orleans. Plus, they’ve announced their Fall Hospital & Healthcare I.T. Conference in Las Vegas (Oct 10-12) along with 2 other virtual versions in the summer and winter.
The thing that really stands out at the HCP events is their unique reverse expo. That’s right, at HCP events the healthcare organizations sit at the tables and the vendors (they call them suppliers) are the ones who go around and visit the various healthcare organizations. At each event they will have approximately 120 IT leaders (CIO/IT Directors) from hospitals and health systems across the US.
What I find most interesting about this approach is that it provides a chance for IT leaders at healthcare organizations to meet with a wide variety of companies that can help their organization. On our CIO podcast, I’ve heard many times about how they can’t do their job alone. It’s essential for them to work with amazing companies that partner with them to achieve their goals. The HCP events provides a great opportunity for IT leaders to quickly meet with a wide variety of companies.
Plus, beyond the reverse expo, the ~120 CIO and IT leaders at the event also get a chance to connect with each other throughout the event. In my experience, you can never get enough time with a high quality peer group that’s struggling through many of the same challenges you’re facing in your job. Whether that’s in a formal facilitated discussion or over lunch, we all need to take time to get out of the office (or should I say bedroom…thanks COVID) and connect with peers. That often leads to solutions or at least commiseration that the challenges we face are hard and some we’re still trying to figure out.
Healthcare IT Today is excited to partner with HCP on the events this year. We’ll be there capturing all the great insights and perspectives from the CIO and IT leaders that attend the event. If you’ll be attending the Spring Hospital & Healthcare I.T. Conference in May in New Orleans, let us know so we can say “hi” in person.
