Industry Spotlight: HITSE New England 2010—Post-Conference Thoughts

By: Donna Carroll, Editor

The last week in October, I attended the first-ever conference organized by the Healthcare IT Solutions Exchange (HITSE).  Since I had already spoken with the HITSE founders (Array Software, Iatric Systems, and Interbit Data) about the organization, I was curious to see how their plans for a new style of collaboration would be received by its attendees.

Upon arriving at the conference, held at the Doubletree Hotel in Westborough, MA, I was welcomed warmly by the HITSE event staff and was provided my PRESS ID.  I was granted permission to take photos of the event and to publish them in The MEDITECH Community Bulletin.  I was encouraged to visit all of the sessions and to speak with any of the attendees, presenters, and exhibitors regarding the conference.  I was only able to attend the first day of the conference (Tuesday, October 26th), so my thoughts here are limited to my observations on that first day. I've also included a few comments from other attendees.

<< Click here to VIEW PHOTOS from the conference >>

TOPICS / PRESENTATIONS:

The conference format consisted of two distinct tracks on each of the two days of the conference.  The two tracks offered on the day I attended were: “CPOE” and “MEDITECH 6.0”.  These topics, to me, seemed very timely and of high interest to most of the attendees.

There were also different types of sessions offered—traditional presentations by industry experts; product demonstrations by vendors; and panel discussions comprised of individuals from hospitals, vendors, and industry experts.  I believe this collaboration of different types of individuals in order to share solutions for everyone’s benefit is what differentiated HITSE’s conference from other industry events.

“The major themes that interested me included Meaningful Use and 6.0.  Both of these were very well represented at the conference.  I enjoyed the fact that vendors were able to present solutions to challenges that all MEDITECH clients face.  We knew up-front that some of the sessions were sales related, yet they were very valuable.  I was able to come away with a couple of very viable solutions to issues we are facing in our 6.0 conversion.  That alone was well worth the time.”  - Dennis Fonseca – CIO, Jordan Hospital

FLEXIBILITY:

Attendees were allowed to make their own choices about the specific tracks and sessions they wished to attend.  I particularly like this flexibility because I believe it enables attendees to decide how to get the most value from a conference, i.e., focusing their attention on the topics most important to them.  The only downside to this approach is if you wanted to attend both of the sessions which were being held concurrently (most of us haven’t figured out how to clone ourselves yet!).

Another nice bit of flexibility was for vendors at the conference.  They had the option of purchasing a booth in the Exhibit Hall, or merely registering to attend the conference sessions.  This was of particular interest to me because I was attending the conference both as Editor of The MEDITECH Community Bulletin, as well as representing my own professional search firm, Systems Personnel.  Vendors were not required to be exhibitors or sponsors, though the opportunities existed for those who desired it.

ATTENDANCE:

I don’t know the exact number of attendees, but it was not as high as I would have expected for a conference focused on such topics as CPOE, MEDITECH 6.0, Meaningful Use, and Revenue Cycle Improvement.  However, considering this was a first-time event for the organization, there was still a respectable number of people in attendance.  I believe that, in general, people don’t rush to attend a first-time event until they’ve heard some positive feedback from others.  Another factor, of course, is the ever-tightening budgets of hospitals which has caused many of them to freeze spending on all non-essential items.

On the positive side, the smaller group sessions were very conducive to the exchange of practical ideas and allowed for more detailed Q & A sessions.  I also heard many people say they decided to attend the HITSE conference because they really preferred regional events.  They were glad this conference was available to them since MUSE has discontinued Regional Group meetings.

“The sessions were very relevant, at least [the ones] that I attended.  I think the quality was pretty good. They did get a little redundant because interaction was the key and it was a small group.  However, the small size also did allow for better interaction within sessions than I am used to.  [The conference] was small, short, and to the point.  That part I preferred largely.  I think a little bigger would be nice (as I'm sure those running the conference do) but not too much.  The interaction was often better due to the specific agenda items and small size.  [The greatest benefit for me] was hearing how others have interpreted the 'meaningful use' regulations.  Something lost in most conferences is looking at how everyone interprets these things differently.”  - Tom Hallisey - VP, Information Management, Cortland Regional Medical Center

EVENT ORGANIZATION:

The event seemed well planned and executed by the HITSE team.  The conference site (Doubletree Hotel in Westborough, MA) was clean, well-served, and appropriately sized for the conference.  The food and refreshments were all fresh and good.  Most people had positive comments about the facility in general, and the organization of the event.  I heard a few people discuss some areas for improvement, and I shared those ideas with the event organizers.  The feedback was well received and appreciated by the HITSE team.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Overall, I was pleased with my decision to attend the HITSE New England 2010 Conference as it was a great opportunity for me to meet face-to-face with so many people with whom I’ve spoken over the past 10 years of working in the MEDITECH market.

For a first-time event, I think the conference went quite well.  It was clear that a lot of thought, planning, and preparation went into the event.  I imagine the event staff walked away from their first conference with a few lessons learned, but I believe that most attendees walked away with the same!  And, according to the HITSE founders, that was their intention for this conference from the very beginning.