Population Health

Update: HIMSS20 has been canceled due to the coronavirus. Read more here. The 2020 HIMSS Global Health Conference is set for March 9-13 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. As the conference approaches, HIMSS is offering weekly updates on how it is handling the ongoing coronavirus situation. "HIMSS20 is proceeding as scheduled," said HIMSS officials in the most recent update. "The health, safety and well-being of our community remains our highest priority." While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says health risk of coronavirus for the general American public is low at this time, HIMSS is continuing to closely monitor the situation and will be offering regular updates to conference-goers. HIMSS is following the guidance of the CDC and the World Health Organization, and is in close communication with the City of Orlando and with the Orange County Convention Center and area hotels about their protocols and disinfection procedures, it said, and is recommending they adhere to CDC and WHO guidance. "Every year, the global health conference carefully creates an emergency response plan," said HIMSS officials. "This year, we have expanded the reach of our procedures to include the counsel of local health systems." In addition, HIMSS plans to have three medical offices on site at the convention center. One of them will be dedicated to addressing flu-like symptoms and will be staffed with a nurse who will have direct access to the Florida Department of Health and an epidemiologist. Before and during HIMSS20, all attendees will be given health tips and information about safety measures. Meanwhile, HIMSS notes that travel restrictions signed by the U.S. Government on January 31, 2020, remain in effect. "We are in direct conversation with attendees and exhibitors from affected regions to accommodate their cancellations," officials said. HIMSS will continue offer weekly updates to the HIMSS20 community going forward. Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

Rajendra Pratap Gupta, board member at the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), says the future will see the rise of fitness wearables with patients managing their own health to a much greater degree.

Dr. Khulood Mohamed Alsayegh, head of clinical standards and guidelines at the Dubai Health Authority, says that the drive toward leveraging telehealth to empower patients is aimed at utilizing technology and the human factor to improve the patient experience.

The cloud technology vendor has made new CDC-recommended tools available to ambulatory and hospital clients, to help with faster diagnosis and continuous monitoring.

Update: HIMSS20 has been canceled due to the coronavirus. Read more here. Gauging a patient’s recovery status is tricky if you don’t know what they should be expected to recover to. Researchers are using data collected from patient-worn sensors, such as Apple Watch or Fitbit, to build a "digital twin" of baseline patient health information. A digital twin is essentially like creating a backup of a patient’s physical state before a procedure, so providers know what to look for a patient to work towards in recovery, said Dr. Mohamed Rehman, a professor and clinician at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, who will explain the concept in a session at HIMSS20 on March 11. Currently, data points such as steps, heart rate, and hours of sleep are used to monitor patients in a variety of settings, but Rehman said there are greater capabilities on the horizon. "Once we develop the digital twin, we can use it to improve the person," he explained. "You can use it as a metric for improvement." The ability to spot abnormalities and the health impacts they may portend is where Rehman sees the digital twin headed. For instance, if a 30 year old patient normally takes 12000 steps a day, and gers 8 hours of sleep a night and suddenly goes to 6000 steps, and five hours of sleep, something could be seriously wrong. A system that can track deviations from baseline can pick up issues much earlier, said Rehman. Real-time monitoring means the possibilities for new data sources are wide. Rehman says even using a metric like time spent on social media can be valuable. If a teenager usually spends three hours a day on social media and gradually drops to an hour to 30 minutes, it could be a harbinger of problems with their mental or physical health. The insights brought by a digital twin means that care can become more precise, targeted, and based on the most accurate and real-time personal data possible. Rehman notes that the current paradigm relies on a doctor asking a patient how they feel. Wider use of digital twins could change this. "When you go to the doctor, they’ll already have data off your digital twin," said Rehman – noting that wearable technology is ubiquitous and that many people are already capturing this data. Imagine if a doctor already had clues about a patient’s health before they even walked in the door. "Today you’re giving them subjective data," he said. "This will be objective data." Dr. Mohamed Rehman will discuss this emerging approach to personalized medicine during his HIMSS20 session, "Creating Digital Twins: Leveraging the IoMT." It's scheduled for Wednesday, March 11, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in room W230A.

But Providence St. Joseph Health Chief Digital Officer Aaron Martin sees a near future when hospitals will meet their disruptors halfway.

The new module targets factors that influence hospital readmissions for diabetic patients and predicts the likelihood of future patient readmissions.

We're looking for presentations with practical tips showing how hospitals and health systems have implemented machine learning and AI to improve care, control costs and drive operational efficiencies.

In a region of 10 million residents, the nonprofit Los Angeles Network for Enhanced Services is helping achieve care coordination, closing care gaps when providers are able to access data at the point of care, using a central interoperable platform.

Asynchronous virtual visits are helping reduce the burdens on primary care providers at Prisma Health – while also enabling easier access, convenience and speed to care for patients.