Hal Wolf, CEO of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), made several bold statements at HIMSS24 about international growth, courting people in CIO-adjacent roles, and learning from other industries.

HIMSS Expansion

At a briefing during the HIMSS24 annual conference in Orlando Florida, Hal Wolf CEO of HIMSS laid bare the organization’s plans for continued growth an expansion. Key to the organization’s strategy is continued investment overseas with emphasis in Europe and Asia.

In addition, Wolf shared how HIMSS is actively courting audiences beyond healthcare CIOs. “We want to be inclusive of roles that are complementary to CIOs,” said Wolf. “We want CMIOs, CNIOs, CSOs, and others like them to be part of our society.” To achieve that, HIMSS is widening its programming to appeal to people in these roles.

How will HIMSS grow in the US in the years ahead? According to Hal Wolf they will continue to widen the tent – to be inclusive of roles that are complementary to the CIO like CMIOs, CNIOs, CSOs, etc. #HIMSS24 #hitsm #digitalhealth pic.twitter.com/4wZetb14iK

— Colin Hung (@Colin_Hung) March 12, 2024

Learning from Other Industries

One of Wolf’s more colorful statements came when he was asked by Shahid Shah how HIMSS would bring in more ideas, innovation, and practices from outside of healthcare. Wolf responded emphatically:

“Healthcare HAS TO learn from other industries. We would be idiots if we didn’t. We need to take advantage of their horizontal knowledge. We can’t do everything on our own” Hal Wolf making a bold statement at #HIMSS24 #digitalhealth #HITsm pic.twitter.com/LdD6gKUXUR

— Colin Hung (@Colin_Hung) March 12, 2024

HIMSS is a Society not an Association

When asked a question about HIMSS’s advocacy plans, Wolf was quick to point out that the organization is a society and not an association. He hinted that this would become more clear in the months ahead as the organization focuses more attention on its educational, analytics and other efforts.

Very interesting statement by Hal Wolf here at #HIMSS24 “It’s very important for us to focus on the last S in our name. We are a society not an association which tends to be narrowly focused. We are here to help the industry address a broad set of challenges.” #hitsm pic.twitter.com/YJW1rWNGLs

— Colin Hung (@Colin_Hung) March 12, 2024

A Focus on Scalable Solutions not Pilots

Wolf’s most intriguing and bold statement came unprompted. He made it clear that the organization is more focused on solutions that can scale and have proven track records of success rather than on startups.

“We don’t need more startups who are a bright point of light or have a great pilot. We need more solutions that scale effectively and efficiently.” Hal Wolf #HIMSS24 #digitalhealth #Hitsm pic.twitter.com/PwhWdtIeFC

— Colin Hung (@Colin_Hung) March 12, 2024

Far from being controversial, this statement confirmed what many have known about HIMSS for years – that it is a society and a conference for “big iron” – enterprise-class solutions that are ready to be deployed immediately.

Wolf referenced healthcare’s need for scalable solutions several times.

Informa Partnership

When asked about the Informa partnership, Wolf spoke about how the two organizations continue to work together to improve the annual conference with HIMSS focusing on the educational aspects of the event and Informa on the sales/marketing/operations of the annual event.

It is too early to judge how the partnership is performing, but the HIMSS24 conference has been going smoothly – which seems to indicate a seamless transition from HIMSS to Informa.

Bold Statements

It is clear that HIMSS is charting new territory for itself. To me this means that over the next few years, the organization and the audience it appeals to, should expect change. Some will be great. Some will be poorly received, but change is necessary.

I applaud Wolf for being willing to make bold statements during the press briefing at HIMSS24. It will be interesting to look back in 2025 to see how far the needle has moved.