HFMA ANI Las Vegas: That’s a Wrap

Though it was only my second time attending the annual HFMA ANI show, I think it’s fast proving to be my favorite when compared to HIMSS – at least when both are held in Las Vegas. The shorter exhibit hall hours; a smaller, more manageable venue; and a general feeling of being less rushed to accomplish every task I set myself was a welcome contrast to the breakneck speed at which we all seem to attend HIMSS.

Though the ANI show had a more laid back vibe, it was by no means any less meaningful to its attendees and exhibitors. Some of the exhibitors I spoke to noted that while booth traffic wasn’t as brisk as they’d have liked, they were having deeper, more meaningful conversations with the folks that did stop by. Others told me that it didn’t seem like many members of the hospital C-suite were in attendance, and decided to send their seconds-in-command instead. (Perhaps they were too busy back home attending to projects related to any of the following healthcare IT acronyms – EMR, HIE, ACO, CPOE, ICD-10, SCOTUS.)

I didn’t get a chance to attend any educational sessions, but from the tweets that I saw, most folks really enjoyed keynotes from Olympian Carl Lewis and renowned pilot Sully Sullenberger. Speaking of tweets, the volume of chatter on Twitter was pretty dismal. There were a few devoted tweets around the #ANI2012 hashtag of course, but for the most part, Twitter (and social media in general) was non-existent.

I walked the show floor Tuesday to see if I could spot any technologies tied into EMRs, and didn’t find much to choose from – at least not as many as I came across last year. I did have some interesting conversations with the folks at Nuance about new solutions being sold under the Dragon Medical umbrella.

Population health management was a phrase I heard (or saw) a number of times, as was predictive analytics and the ubiquitous “Big Data” – all three of which tie together in the world of hospital CFOs. In my mind, it seems that it will be necessary from a financial standpoint for hospitals to get a firm grasp of what “Big Data” means to their organization, and then how to use predictive analytics to derive meaning from that data in their population health management programs, especially if they plan on successfully participating in any sort of coordinated or accountable care program. MedAssets is doing some interesting work around this concept that I hope to learn more about once I get back home and settled.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts about the show, especially if you were an attendee. How did it compare to last year? Did you think, like me, that many folks were seduced by the lure of the pools at Mandalay Bay to the detriment of folks working the exhibit booths? Gather your thoughts while you peruse a few pictures I took on the show floor: