Workforce

The value of HIMSS membership, explains Tammy Kwiatkoski, HIMSS' senior director for global communities, is not measured in online engagement metrics, but in the lessons and resources that members take back to their workplaces.

Within health systems, AI agents can serve as assistants for clinicians and revenue cycle teams so they can focus on higher-value, purpose-driven work like patient care and decision-making, Google's Aashima Gupta explains.

Changemaker Award recipient Dr. Deepti Pandita of UCI Health urges anyone working in healthcare to get involved with HIMSS and specifically recommends that clinicians use HIMSS' Physician Informatics Research Hub.

Rather than serving on advisory boards, experienced clinicians are needed to help develop wearables that align with real-world care delivery, according to Dr. Ami Bhatt, Chief Innovation Officer at the American College of Cardiology.

Our HIMSS26 interviewees say that early strategizing using the conference app to decide which sessions to attend from a packed agenda and which booths to visit in the busy expo hall can help make the most of attendance.

Although HIMSS26 attendees want to learn about new digital tools, they say the real value in coming back to the conference every year is in making new friends, checking in with old friends and sharing ideas and challenges.

Colorado Lt. Governor and Policy Influencer Changemaker Award recipient Dianne Primavera says belonging to the Colorado HIMSS chapter has enabled her to work closely with other state healthcare and policy leaders.

While AI tools can help patients interpret their medical records, Altera Digital Health's Leigh Burchell, Policy Influencer Changemaker Award recipient, cautions patients against uploading data to non-HIPAA-compliant tools.

Julie Luengas, DNP, RN, Stony Brook Medicine CNIO and HIMSS Changemaker awardee, recommends that healthcare IT newcomers stay flexible and "take on every role possible" to learn about different processes and understand best practices.

Cedric Truss, Georgia State University educator and HIMSS Changemaker awardee, says that partnerships between healthcare organizations and academic institutions can ensure that students are better prepared to enter the industry post-graduation.