LAS VEGAS—They came for the vaccine mandate and they stayed for the face-to-face (albeit masked) networking.
About 19,300 people attended the 2021 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Global Conference in Las Vegas, according to an estimate late Thursday from the conference host, HIMSS. About 5,000 people logged on for the digital program. The conference typically draws around 40,000 people annually, HIMSS reports. There were roughly 700 exhibiting companies this year, also about half the typical volume.
HIMSS21 served as a test case for the healthcare and events industries, as the first and largest healthcare conference to hold an in-person event in the past 18 months since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Each exhibiting company and attendee had to make a thoughtful decision about whether to fly themselves or their staff to Las Vegas to participate in a large group event even as the delta variant continues to surge across the country. This year’s attendance numbers—about half of the usual number of people the event typically draws—reflects the ongoing hesitation that many people feel about attending an in-person event.
Hal Wolf, president of HIMSS, told reporters Wednesday he was “thrilled” with the participation at HIMSS21. “The staff has done a phenomenal job with social distancing and in talking to vendors, there is a consistent story coming out, ‘yes, there are fewer people here but people here are really engaged.’ The conversations taking place are very rich,” he said.
Staff writer Dave Muoio and I spoke with attendees and exhibitors on the ground at HIMSS21 and we also heard a consistent story: the opportunity for networking was a primary reason to come to Las Vegas and HIMSS’ vaccination mandate was a pivotal factor in the decision to attend.
Of course, judging by some Tweets and comments made to fellow journalists, not every exhibitor was happy about the set-up, with some complaining about low traffic on the exhibitor floor and attendees also grumbling about the long distances between HIMSS venues (I logged 56,000 steps in four days!).
Here’s what executives had to say about their reasons for attending and how they strategized their presence at HIMSS21:
Commitment to the health IT industry
Health Catalyst significantly scaled back its on-site staff and modified its booth to accommodate social distancing measures.
“We spaced across the booths wider, we reduced the meeting space we have, we have increased air filtration in the rooms. We took a very proactive approach to how we built the booth. It’s not the same strategy we would have pursued had there not been COVID, so I think with the modifications we made, the data we were looking at, we still felt it was worth being here and still attend,” Ben Cook, vice president of marketing at Health Catalyst told Fierce Healthcare.
A few months ago, as vaccinations rolled out, the modifications seemed unnecessary, he said.
“I had this thought, ‘Man, we probably overdid it with COVID precautions. We’re going to look silly.’ Now when we see what’s happening with Nevada and other places, I’m actually really glad we did that. It helps people feel more comfortable, ensures they can still participate but in a safe way,” he said.
As HIMSS was the first large conference the company’s staff had attended since the pandemic started, Health Catalyst clearly communicated to employees about the vaccination requirement and the latest data on COVID so they could make an informed decision. “[We told them] if you don’t feel comfortable being there you can absolutely pull out, there’s no requirement that you be there,” he said. “Their safety is our priority.”
A number of employees pulled out but Cook insists it’s not because they were uncomfortable. “It was more that their clients were no longer attending. They didn’t feel that the cost justified they come out or come out as long. A lot shortened their stay, but I don’t necessarily think it was from a concern for COVID and the number,” he said.
At the end of the day, exhibiting at the conference was more than just a business opportunity, he said.
“I think for us, it just shows a commitment to this space, to thought leadership around healthcare IT and, again, how important this moment is with COVID—the need for better data, analytics to drive those decisions. We’re probably not going to see as much ROI from the show this year, but we felt given the fact that we had invested and we’re a continuing member of HIMSS and a supporter of HIMSS, we felt that at least having a presence here was of value,” he said.
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Electronic health records (EHR) vendor Epic once again had one of the largest booths at the conference.
"Coming into it, we didn't know what to expect, who would be here and who wouldn't," said Katie Lee, who leads Epic's events teams.
"We’ve participated in HIMSS for decades and we think of it as a meeting that’s very important to the industry and our customers. We are pleased that it’s a vaccinated event, that makes a big difference," she said. "We're happy with the turnout. It’s buzzing and there’s high energy."
Comfortable with risk management steps
Bill Evans, chief marketing officer at Komodo Health, applauded HIMSS’ decision to require vaccinations and masks and the efforts to space booths apart on the show floor.
“We felt that the risk was being managed well enough that we were comfortable. We also made it voluntary for the folks in our company, so if you did not feel comfortable traveling, comfortable being here, you certainly did not have to. Everybody who is working the show felt comfortable making an informed decision,” he said.
The projected attendance numbers were “healthy enough” that it justified the company’s full attention and it moved forward with staffing a booth at the conference.
“We had already made the investments and commitments to be here. So that combination of folks fully understanding what the situation was, providing our own management around making sure people felt comfortable, and then once we were here [using] hand sanitizer, masks, all that stuff,” he said.
(Fierce Healthcare)
Evans believes that are several value-adds to attending in-person and having a booth on the exhibition floor.
“I think everybody moved virtual in the year of the pandemic and certainly that’s an avenue available to a lot of the people that are attending," he said. "But even this whole morning, the conversations you’re having with folks that stop by irrelevant to business, just wanting to have a conversation—giving the attention and space of digital, I’m not entirely sure if we would have the same level of opportunity without the in-person component.
"It’s just like a much more organic way to meet new customers, make relationships with people, have conversations with media guys that walk by, part of that is lost in a virtual-only environment,” he said.
Personal interaction is "irreplaceable"
Tom Kiesau, director and digital leader at The Chartis Group, spoke on several panels at the conference in Las Vegas, so that gave him one motivation to attend. But Kiesau also said he wanted to hear what other industry leaders are talking about, which is easier to do at an in-person event.
"Virtual is a great 80% proxy, but it’s not a 100% proxy and there’s something about the serendipity of the interaction and being able to see people and interact with people in a different way. There is a consolidation of intellectual power represented by events like HIMSS. You can’t replicate that in any virtual setting," he said.
The HIMSS conference also can be an ideal venue to either announce big industry news or talk to customers about new developments.
Telehealth giant Teladoc recently announced a major partnership with Microsoft to integrate its platform for hospitals and health systems with Microsoft Teams. The aim is to streamline clinician telehealth access within their existing workflows.
"Given the timing of our Microsoft announcement and the magnitude it has for our business, we saw the value of being able to sit face-to-face with customers and walk through something complex. " think that personal interaction is irreplaceable," Joe DeVivo, Teladoc's president of hospitals and health system, told Fierce Healthcare.
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The company pulled its booth from the show floor but executives held meetings at the conference.
"We as a company pulled our booth because many employees were concerned about travel but I personally have faith in the vaccine and the fact that the show mandated vaccinations and everyone is masked gave me increased comfort to be here," DeVivo said, adding, "I felt the risk was limited and the benefit of having personal contact was worth it."
Ryan Smith, the CIO at Intermountain Healthcare, made the trip to Las Vegas to speak on several panels and share ideas with other executives.
"I think we have a real story to share. I think people are starting to get a little bit burned out with the ‘What did we do during COVID to innovate?' To me, that’s starting to get to be a tiring topic," he said, adding that the conversation has now turned to how to sustain that rapid pace of innovation.
"I’m interested to see what others are doing and how are vendors responding to it. I feel like we’ve hit this pivot point or inflection point in the industry. Things are moving like it never has before and at a pace I've never seen before. I don’t want to miss it. I don’t want to wait another six months to see what’s going on," he said.
Benefits outweighed potential risks
The HIMSS21 conference was the first in-person event that Acuant put on its calendar this year.
"It's what we targeted because it’s HIMSS, right? The impact that HIMSS has within not just the industry but just the larger business ecosystem is immeasurable. If we were going to take this risk, so to speak, HIMSS was a worthwhile endeavor to take that risk for. But yeah, it’s been positive for us so far," Ellis Mosley, senior lead for healthcare, told Fierce Healthcare.
Acuant is an identity verification, document authentication and fraud prevention technology services company. Company executives attended the show to connect with providers and other exhibitors, Mosley said.
Big-name companies dropping out of the show did not deter executives from attending, he said.
"It was less about who’s not coming and more about how we feel about the delta variant. It was less about ‘This big-name provider isn’t going to show up, do we still want to go?’ and more around ‘Okay, for the folks who are coming, are they going to provide the teams that allow us to plug in and get what we’re looking for?’ But the delta variant was more of a factor than who wasn’t coming out," he said.
Another last-minute change?
Interesting to note, many people said they considered the possibility that HIMSS might pull the plug on the conference, which happened in 2020. Most said a last-minute cancellation would not damage their relationship with HIMSS.
"I think we would have been frustrated that it would have been a down-to-the-minute call again, but I know that this is unprecedented times and everyone’s trying to do the best that they can with all the unknowns," Health Catalyst's Cook said.
Mosley also agreed that a last-second change would not cool his company's relationship with HIMSS. "I’m interested in what some other vendors and exhibitors would say, especially those who have more of an investment with HIMSS this year. You can tell with some of the displays and exhibits, this is probably a year’s worth of planning for them whereas for us it was closer to three to six months," he said.