ICD-10, no doubt, will be a hot topic of discussion at the HIMSS12 conference next week in Las Vegas, thanks to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' announcement this week that it will delay the deadline for organizations to go live with the new coding system.
The implementation process was already on many healthcare executives' radars even before the announcement, as evidenced by the various pre-conference sessions, lectures and roundtables geared toward ICD-10 at the conference, as well as response so far to our executive ICD-10 breakfast panel discussion on Wednesday, Feb. 22.
That said, what other trends should attendees keep in mind when heading out to the Venetian Sands Expo Center? Here's a quick rundown of what a few others are planning:
Meaningful Use: The current elephant in the room appears to be the looming final details for Meaningful Use Stage 2. EMR and HIPAA editor John Lynn, among others, expects the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT/Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to make an announcement on a proposed rule "any day now," even possibly before the conference.
"I think with all certainty all of us will be tired of hearing the word[s] "Meaningful Use" after HIMSS," he writes. "I might have to try and keep track of how many conversations I have where the words "Meaningful Use" aren't used."
Accountable Care: A number of different sessions will deal with the ongoing shift to ACOs. One such session--Laying the Foundation for Accountable Care--deals with imparting knowledge that will be necessary for physician practice to have success in such an environment, according to Health Data Management's Joseph Goedert.
Session speaker Steven Waldren, M.D., director of the Center for Health IT at the American Academy of Family Physicians, told HDM that practices need to rethink old attitudes regarding care coordination. "A lot still see the physician as the source of care and not the practice," he says.
Mobile health: In an interview with PRx Blog, mHIMSS editor Eric Wicklund says he's looking most forward to anything dealing with mobile health technologies. "I'm particularly interested in sessions examining how mHealth tools may be adopted to improve clinical workflow and monitor and treat people with chronic conditions," he says.
Wicklund also makes a point to mention the HIT X.0 sub-conference, which was a big hit at HIMSS11, and likely will be even more popular this year.
We'll be covering a variety of topics at the conference, from new government initiatives to social media use by providers. Watch for our coverage in our newsletters and on our websites, as well as on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.