Schedule of Events
Attend thought-provoking sessions, hear engaging podcasts, and catch the latest news and announcements for the week. Leave with invaluable insights and actionable outcomes to help you bring health equity initiatives to your organization or community.
Monday, November 11
Women/Maternal Health Lunchtime Webinar
HIMSS Kentucky Bluegrass Chapter
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET
Learn about Baptist Health’s Motherhood Connection program, which follows new moms through their pregnancy to ensure they receive the best care and support from prenatal to postpartum care.
Our friends at Volunteers of America Mid-States will share how they help women and families navigate substance abuse disorders, providing the necessary support to find success in recovery and thrive.
Primary Care and Telehealth Use: Two Studies of Healthcare Access
In the United States, inconsistencies inequitable access are due to multiple factors, including poor locational or economic issues and racial and ethnic disparities. This session will share findings from both studies and demonstrate how health information and health technology can advance the study of care access and help reduce health inequity.
- Speaker: Alexander Mizenko, Senior Director, Product and Data Analytics, FAIR Health
Tuesday, November 12
Embracing Neurodiversity in Healthcare: Empowering Staff and Enhancing Patient Care
10:00 am - 11:00 am ET
In this webinar, leading experts in diversity and inclusion will explore the critical role neurodiversity plays in the healthcare sector. Neurodivergent healthcare staff, employees, and patients face unique challenges and opportunities, and creating inclusive environments can unlock untapped potential, improve job satisfaction, and enhance patient care. Expert speakers will share their insights on fostering inclusion, supporting neurodivergent professionals, and delivering better patient experiences by understanding neurodiversity.
Speakers:
- Martin McKay, Executive Chairman and Founder, Texthelp
- Ludmila N. Praslova, PhD, SHRM-SCP, Author of The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work and Professor of Graduate Organizational Psychology at Vanguard University
- Paul Deemer, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, NHS Employers
- Eric Sydell, PhD, Industrial-organizational Psychologist, Co-Founder and CEO, Vera AI
HIMSS Foundation Professional Certification Scholarship Grant opens for minority professionals and underserved
The application period for the 2025 HIMSS Foundation Professional Certification Grant for Minority Professionals and Students is open. The HIMSS Foundation has partnered with the HIMSS Global Health Equity Network to offer this grant to help prepare underrepresented health information and technology professionals and students to attain either the Certified Associate in Healthcare Information and Management Systems (CAHIMS®) or the Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems (CPHIMS®) certification.
Exploring HIMSS’s Workforce Resources
Interested in enhancing your career, advancing your professional development, and learning more about the career and workforce development resources provided by HIMSS? This informative webinar will share ways to leverage the resources at HIMSS that directly enhance your skills, provide a competitive advantage, and facilitate your ability to grow in your career.
- Mara Daiker, MS, CPDHTS, CPHIMS, RHIA, FHIMSS, Senior Director, Professional Development Program, HIMSS
- Katie Kerr, EdD, RHIA, Associate Professor and Graduate HIM Program Director, The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, MN
Tribal Epidemiology Panel
Tribal Epidemiology Centers are vital to public health support for American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Each TEC has a unique mission and goals for its community, including how it collects and reports public health data to help tribes understand its health needs. Given the dire need to strengthen these public health systems, data modernization has been a key component of how TECs have kept up with the demand for better population health management. This panel will dive into these tribal data infrastructure-related topics and discuss how they are implementing innovative solutions to better serve their Tribal communities.
Using Data to Advance Health Equity
CMS strives to identify health disparities and remedy systemic barriers to equity so that every person we serve has a fair and just opportunity to attain optimal health regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, preferred language, or other factors that affect access to care and health outcomes. The session will share some of the ways CMS is using data, measures, and analytics to advance health equity, expand coverage, and improve health outcomes.
Speakers:
- Gregory Woskow, Director, Division of Business and Data Analysis, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
- Aditi Mallick, Acting Director of the CMS Office of Minority Health (OMH), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
- Jessica Lee, Acting Chief Medical Officer for Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Center for Virtual Care Value and Equity
The National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences recently awarded the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $ 3.7 million over five years to establish the Center for Virtual Care Value and Equity (ViVE). This center will lead translational research in virtual care, build expertise around virtual care data, develop validated measurement approaches, and provide national workforce development opportunities. The panelists and ViVE leaders are working to advance health equity and improve the sustainability of virtual care programs through innovative and translational resource approaches. ViVE is expanding its network of collaborators to validate existing telehealth frameworks that enable the design, implementation, and evaluation of virtual care models. This presentation will present existing equity and financial models built by the ViVE team, discuss current health equity challenges in virtual care, offer insights into current gaps in policy for equity and value, and call for engagement and participation from HIMSS members in expert panel review sessions after the conference. The panelists represent diverse fields, including academic medicine, public health, and health policy. The panelists will share their expertise and experiences around the ability to provide care to patients who may not have access to traditional healthcare services.
Speakers:
- David McSwain, Chief Medical Information Officer, UNC Health
- Yael Harris, Chief Executive Officer, Laurel Health Advisors, LLC
The Groundwork for Improving Outcomes: Digital Measurement and Health Equity
The CMS/ONC 2020 interoperability rules created processes for advancing standards and implementation by encouraging innovation with data exchange and FHIR® API technology. Progress in interoperability creates an opportunity to leverage standardized data and FHIR®® solutions for CMS's quality measurement and other use cases. CMS’ transition to digital quality measurement is underway. The CMS National Quality Strategy outlines CMS's goals for a resilient, high-value healthcare system. The strategy has eight goals, which include accelerating and supporting the transition to a digital, data-driven healthcare system and advancing health equity. Alongside this transition to digital measurement, CMS is working to advance health equity. The CMS Framework for Health Equity provides strategies for advancing health equity. These strategies include but are not limited to expanding the collection, reporting, and analysis of standardized data and designing policies to address health disparities. This session will showcase examples of CMS's actions for digital measurement and health equity. CMS supports data standardization, such as for SDOH. CMS is also developing an eCQM designed to measure the screening of patients for social needs and if an intervention activity is performed. This eCQM is an example of advancements in SDOH data standardization and interoperability.
- Faseeha Altaf, Digital Strategy and Quality Lead, Yale/CORE
- Joel Andress, Health Insurance Specialist, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
- Michelle Schreiber, Deputy Director of the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality for the Centers, Group Director for the Quality Measurement and Value-Based Incentives Group, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Wednesday, November 13
HIMSS Native American and Indigenous Community Roundtable
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm ET | Webinar
Join our HIMSS Native American and Indigenous Community leadership team for our special edition of ‘Coffey Chat’ during Native American Heritage Month.
Participants will have the chance to engage with industry experts, thought leaders, and peers actively involved in improving healthcare delivery for our tribal patient populations—an agenda to be sent to confirmed registrants before the roundtable.
- Speaker: Robert Coffey, Comanche Nation Citizen and Chair, HIMSS Native American and Indigenous Community
Transforming Healthcare Ecosystem Through Interoperable Social Care Integration Solutions
In March 2020, the Administration for Community Living announced the Social Care Referrals Challenge, a competition for leaders in aging and disability networks, healthcare systems, payers, and health IT vendors to cultivate care coordination by developing interoperable and scalable technology solutions. The Challenge culminated in October 2022 with three grand prize winners, Missouri Aging Services Data Collaborative and FHIR®-FLI. While each Challenge team had proficient skills and expertise in health IT, social care, and shared governance, the winning teams demonstrated replicable and scalable solutions inclusive of efficient organizational structures and sustainable models. Participants will gain valuable insights into the presenters’ participation in the three-phased federal challenge that catalyzed the development and optimization of interoperable technology solutions that leverage national data exchange standards and common resource directory formats. Lessons learned from the Social Care Referrals Challenge teams can be applied to local, state, and regional person-centered initiatives seeking to implement interoperable closed-loop referral management across disparate systems.
- Evelyn Gallego, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, EMI Advisors LLC
- John Byer, Chief Executive Officer, Cumulus Care, Inc
- John Manning, Chief Executive Officer, MayJuun
Thursday, November 14
South Carolina Health IT Day
9:00 am – 1:00 pm| EST
Join us for a virtual gathering of healthcare professionals on South Carolina Health IT Day. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of a dynamic online event dedicated to advancing healthcare through technology!
Washington Chapter Global Health Equity Week Brown Bag
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm PT
Celebrate Global Health Equity Week with us as we showcase the power of digital health to improve healthcare access worldwide. HIMSS and partners continue to champion critical areas like maternal health, patient safety, telehealth, and community health. Join us in advancing health equity through technology-driven solutions.
Colorado HIMSS Global Health Equity Week Celebration Live Streamed at Pueblo Community College
5:00 pm – 7:30 pm MST
Dine and network at Pueblo Community College as we celebrate Global Health Equity Week. Hear about the great work being done by top institutions in the state to improve health equity for all Coloradans.
Colorado HIMSS Global Health Equity Week Celebration at Top Golf
5:00 pm - 9:00 pm MT | Event
Come dine and network with Colorado HIMSS to celebrate Global Health Equity Week. Hear about the great work being done by top institutions in the state to improve health equity for all Coloradoans.
HIMSS Indigenous Roundtable
8:00 pm - 9:15 pm ET
Participants will be able to engage with international industry experts, thought leaders, and peers actively involved in improving healthcare delivery for First Nations and Indigenous populations globally. Agenda topics will include data sovereignty, information governance, digital health transformation, and public health modernization.
Friday, November 15
Unifying advocacy within HIMSS chapters
Marjorie Rosen, HIMSS Chapter Advocacy vice chair, discusses the HIMSS Chapter Advocacy Task Force, mentorship's role in supporting local communities, and its work to improve health equity at the state level and with legislatures.
What Global Health Equity Week means for improving maternal health
Valerie Rogers, senior director of government relations at HIMSS, explains how perinatal care benefits from state and federal policies that promote more equitable outcomes, as well as IT innovations that promote data modernization and exchange.
What Global Health Equity Week means for justice-impacted individuals
Mike Relli, principal at Knight Consulting and a New Jersey HIMSS chapter member, explains how states are using Section 1115 waivers to improve access and reduce SDOH disparities for citizens transitioning from incarceration back into the community.
The Evolving Landscape of Innovations for More Equitable Obesity Care and Weight Loss Management
December 5, 2024 | 1:00 pm CST
GLP-1 medications offer promising results for weight loss and other conditions, though access and affordability raise ethical concerns. This session will discuss equitable obesity care, innovations like telehealth, and impacts on health systems.