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Posted April 16, 2009
Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare: Editor's Note
This issue of the PSQH eNewsletter occurs between my attendance at two healthcare conferences — HIMSS and Health 2.0 — which appear to represent opposite ends of a spectrum.
HIMSS, the Health Information and Management Systems Society, is often referenced as a stand-in for large, traditional, corporate entities in healthcare IT (HIT). Earlier this month, HIMSS09 showed enviable attendance (27,500 attendees, more than 900 exhibitors) and vitality, fueled by anticipation of federal stimulus funding for HIT.
Health 2.0 evolved informally, as a number of individuals converged around ideas for applying Web 2.0 tools — user-generated content, blogs, video, and other disruptive technologies — to healthcare problems. The organizers were amazed by the response to the first Health 2.0 conference in September 2007 (500 attendees, 100 on the waiting list). The third Health 2.0 conference occurs next week in Boston, in conjunction with the Center for Information Therapy. Despite their apparent differences, Health 2.0 influences were obvious in all aspects of the HIMSS program — education, exhibits, and attendees. I look forward to attending Health 2.0, which is sure to provide surprises. Both communities have much to offer, especially where they overlap and interact. For more on both conferences, look to the blogsophere: The Health Care Blog, Life as a Healthcare CIO, HIStalkPractice, Chilmark Research, and others.
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