Technology is transforming the healthcare industry at an accelerating pace, and the annual HIMSS conference is one of the best venues to learn about current trends and future outlooks. HIMSS is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to health IT education and networking opportunities.

Next week’s conference runs from April 12-16 in Chicago, and highlights at the show include new areas of focus on cybersecurity, building value in health IT, and using innovative non-EHR technologies to improve care delivery, clinical workflow, collaboration and patient satisfaction.

Keynote speakers include George W. Bush, who helped drive the development of health IT by establishing the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT when he was president. Karen DeSalvo, the current National Coordinator for Health IT is also a keynote speaker, along with Medicare & Medicaid Services Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt. Other featured speakers include Humana CEO Bruce Broussard and Walgreens President Alex Gourlay.

An important topic at every year’s HIMSS conference is technology interoperability—the ability to combine and integrate systems from various vendors to achieve the greatest possible value from IT resources. In part, the ONC is dedicated to helping address these issues, but the pace is slow. In January, the ONC published its 10-year plan to help foster interoperability (link below), but much remains to be done to transform the plan into reality.

When this year’s HIMSS conference kicks off on Sunday, the first topic for discussion will be interoperability, with a presentation by Erica Galvez, the ONC’s Interoperability Portfolio Manager, who will discuss how the government is planning to work with industry to improve interoperability. Visit the resources below to learn more about the conference and the ONC roadmap.

HIMSS Conference: http://www.himssconference.org/

ONC Technology Roadmap: http://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/nationwide-interoperability-roadmap-draft-version-1.0.pdf