Forrester Research has published a report summing up its impressions from the HIMSS19 Global Conference & Exhibition. Experts said they came away from the show convinced that big momentum is building behind interoperability, and it's not coming from the places one might expect. Health systems will need to do better with the management and sharing of more data than ever if they hope to stay competitive in a value-based care landscape where patients have more choice than ever about where they get their care, according to the study. WHY IT MATTERS As interoperability continues to gain steam, it's set to boost the profiles of an array of other key technologies, said Forrester researchers. At HIMSS19, it was clear that tools "supporting data management and interoperability, including cloud and AI, showcased their ability to add value and hit on the quadruple aim: improving the customer experience, driving better outcomes, lowering costs, and supporting the whole care team," they said.

VivaLNK, a connected healthcare technology vendor, has introduced its Internet of Things-enabled medical wearable Sensor Platform, which comes with a range of sensors, edge computing technologies and an "Internet of Health Things" data cloud. This platform captures human vitals and biometrics, and delivers data from the patient to edge computing devices, as well as to the cloud, for application integration and analysis. Available through the VivaLNK Developer Program, the Sensor Platform enables IoT technology partners to capture streams of patient data such as heart and respiratory rates, temperature, ECG rhythms, activity and more. Partners such as Vitalic Medical, a digital health vendor specialising in the early detection of patient health deterioration and potential falls, is developing a bedside monitoring system using the platform. "Our growing aging patient population, rising complex health conditions and increasing staff workloads make it challenging for medical professionals to detect early signs of patient deterioration and prevent falls," Sue Dafnias, CEO of Vitalic Medical, said.

Health IT vendors galore have been introducing new products this week at HIMSS19. Here is another selection of some of the announcements. AMAX, a global artificial intelligence, deep learning and enterprise IT technology vendor, has launched its AI/Deep Learning Compute Cluster systems and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms for the healthcare industry. The company's AI/Deep-Learning Compute Cluster systems for healthcare are optimized for research, development and large-scale deployments in data centers. Systems address the increasing demand for fully integrated high-performance compute and GPU accelerated compute as well as high-performance storage specific to healthcare applications that are based on AI and deep learning, the company explained.

In the coming year of 2019, there is so much to look forward to globally in health technology at HIMSS19 and continue the conversation beyond. The future of health technology seems to move a little bit faster each year and the number of tools or platforms to monitor can feel a bit pressing from any perspective. However, my focus will be on artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, wearables and augmented reality (AR) as all hold my interest due to their growth potential. They all have practical applications for clinicians and patients, as well as chief information officers who are investing time and research into security. Plus, all have opportunities for implementation in the coming years with the ultimate goal of moving into real word practice and education.

Without surprise, artificial intelligence continues to be of critical focus across the digital health ecosystem. HIMSS Media recently conducted a survey on artificial intelligence and machine learning, with results confirming this. Responses indicated widespread optimism about the application of artificial intelligence in healthcare settings, particularly in the treatment of chronic conditions. Of the respondents, 77 percent said they are already using artificial intelligence (AI) to support clinical decisions. With chronic conditions increasing in prevalence, respondents see AI and machine learning holding major transformative potential for improving care, with more than half of respondents citing conditions like cancer, heart disease and diabetes as priority areas for leveraging these innovations.

Change Healthcare at HIMSS19 will be focusing on how intelligence can be "pushed further up into the network," to improve healthcare overall as well as at the individual patient level, according to Kris Joshi, Executive Vice President of Network Solutions at Change. Joshi said Change will feature several central focus areas. First, blockchain will feature heavily, riding the continued fervor around the ledger technology and its potential impact on data reconciliation, a problem that plagues the industry. "Blockchain is a great application," Joshi said. "The goal there is to eventually eliminate data reconciliation challenges in the claims, billing and payment processes in healthcare."