– Tracel Wilt, Vice President, Government Sales, BioIQ –
Whether you’re a HiMSS regular or a first-time attendee like me, this year’s conference offered something for everyone. From hands-on sessions led by industry experts to networking opportunities you can’t find elsewhere, my first trip to HiMSS provided knowledge and insight too valuable to stay in Vegas. Read on for highlights from my inaugural HiMSS experience.
My role with BioIQ is focused on the government market, so the sessions I attended throughout the week concentrated on federal health IT programs. I kicked off the conference with the Federal Health IT Business Development Workshop alongside a group of 30 peers. Knowledgeable federal health IT professionals led us through informative sessions on the federal bid processes, navigating federal agencies and the importance of meeting specific departments within these agencies.
Our group spent the afternoon working through the bid submittal process using a case study on a current bid. We worked in teams, which enabled us to network with our peers and better understand their businesses’ offerings. This was one of the most valuable parts of the workshop. Another highlight was conducting a Q&A session with a panel of key leaders from five federal departments. The agencies represented were the Veterans Health Administration, the National Institutes of Health Information the Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center, the Defense Health Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Medicaid & CHIP Services.
Throughout the remainder of the week, I attended sessions on a wide variety of topics and heard speakers from various federal agencies. A recurring theme was interoperability and its profound implications not just for the federal agencies, but also for their civilian counterparts. Consider this scenario: You’re at the doctor’s office and the nurse asks when you last had a tetanus booster. If you’re like me, your response is a deer in the headlights look and a shoulder shrug. At best, my response might be, “Probably when I was in the Army 20 years ago.” What if your doctor could go into a data universe that captured medical records from your pediatrician, your college medical clinic, the urgent care center you visited when you had strep throat eight years ago while traveling three time zones away from your home, and all of your current primary care and specialist records? The power this gives you and your healthcare provider to make more informed decisions to ensure your optimal health is astonishing.
My week at HiMSS provided a glimpse into the near-term future of healthcare – and it hinges on interoperability. The first step to accessing this valuable information is collecting the data. BioIQ can help. We seamlessly connect people to health testing through our software to make testing more accessible. This leads to better insight for people and more touch points with health service partners. I’d love to talk to you about connecting the future of healthcare to your program, and hearing your thoughts on HiMSS16 if you were able to attend. I can be reached at twilt@bioiq.com or 910-599-5422.
