Three "can’t miss" sessions at HIMSS 18

What the United States needs now is a digital infrastructure that can serve patients in rural areas. Only with this infrastructure can healthcare organizations improve our nation’s health.

These are individuals in areas miles and miles away from hospital. Some towns have stretches of highway where neighbors are spaced by driving distance. But, the communities near these rural roads can be helped by technology that can overcome distance, cost and complexity.

There are, of course, a host of challenges facing healthcare organizations from implementing the digital infrastructure needed—obstacles which can be overcome. With that backdrop, we head into HIMSS 2018, one of the largest conferences in the world dedicated to healthcare and technology issues. We’ll be talking about rural healthcare and more. Check out three sessions you won’t want to miss:

Session: The impact of connectivity on rural hospitals & the promise it holds

Speaker: Bryan Fiekers, Sr. Director, Research, HIMSS Analytics

Who should attend: Hospital Clinicians, Health Administrators, Business Decision Makers, IT Managers

What it’s About: Bryan Fiekers and his team surveyed 150 healthcare professionals. In this new study, he reveals what challenges rural healthcare organizations face when it comes to building a digital infrastructure that makes telehealth possible. Technology today can overcome distance, cost, and complexity. With this in mind, Fiekers will take attendees through his findings and offer routes to overcome the challenges. Here’s a sneak peek:

• Did you know? 72% of healthcare orgs said implementation costs of #telehealth networks disrupt patient care.
  
• Unsurprisingly, 55% of surveyed clinicians said telemedicine implementation and upgrades were their number one priority for the organization
  
• More than two-thirds of respondents (71%) said that lack of budget/funding was the number one problem in addressing security risks. 

What you’ll learn: The challenges surrounding telemedicine, and what resources are available to healthcare organizations interested in making improvements to the patient experience.

Session: Connectivity to transform the patient experience

Speaker: Theresa Dudley, Vertical Program Manager, Spectrum Business for enterprise

Who should attend: Hospital Clinicians, Business Decision Makers, C-Suite, IT Managers

What it’s About: Theresa Dudley walks you through how digital connectivity helps to improve both the patient and clinician experience during hospital stays. Presenting an overview of how WiFi and Fiber based HDTV create a less stressful patient experience in conjunction with the Quadruple Aim – advancing patient outcomes, improving patient satisfaction, and reducing hospital care costs as readmission rates decrease due to faster patient recovery times and a better patient experience. Here’s a sneak peek:

• The biggest challenge? Theresa says that many organizations struggle with, “Adoption due to complicated billing, slow reimbursements, and subpar connections.”
  
• The Quadruple Aim – heavily focused on the patient experience, Dudley shares the initiatives around improving the well-being of clinicians and caretakers by reducing stress and focusing on patient happiness.
  
• Happy patients recover sooner. Patients who have positive experiences in the hospital tend to recover quicker, and have lower readmission rates, making comforts like WiFi access and selections from 100+ HD channels a big deal
  

What you’ll learn: How implementing network fiber technologies will increase access to healthcare and improve the overall health of the population.

Session: Caring for astronauts in space: the role of telemedicine at NASA

Speaker: Michelle Frieling, Department Manager, Flight and Medical Ops, KBRwyke Shanna Moynihan, Deputy Chief, Space and Occupational Medicine, Deputy, Chief Medical Officer, NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Who should attend: Hospital Clinicians, Health Administrators, Business Decision Makers, IT Managers

What it’s About: Several times a year, a new team of astronauts is launched to the International Space Station, where they stay for six months to one year, performing engineering tasks, research, maintenance and upgrades. During this time, access to medical care is crucial, as altered routines and microgravity have deconditioning effects on crew members' bone and muscle, fluid distribution and immune function. This exciting presentation examines NASA's current use of telemedicine in the care of astronauts in orbit, and learn about opportunities being considered for future exploration class missions.

What you’ll learn: What on-orbit capabilities are currently present to support telemedicine for astronauts, and what future telemedicine challenges are preventing longer duration deep-space missions.