Heading to HIMSS? 7 Must-Reads to Get Ready

By the end of the week, nearly 40,000 people will have descended on the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., for the Health Information and Management Systems Society’s 2014 Annual Exhibition & Conference.  
The event draws thousands of healthcare executives, and nearly every healthcare vendor whose offerings are remotely associated with health information technology. If you are one of those attending, below are 7 must-reads to prepare.
1. Tech Terms Cheat Sheet: The Health IT Vocabulary Non-CIOs Need to Know — No more nodding at acronyms you don’t understand. Read this and you’ll be able to both comprehend health IT “speak.”
2. The Top 10 Game Changers in Hospital IT — A brief history of health IT in hospitals, including the 10 technologies that are making hospitals safer and more efficient.
3. Learning From the Best: What HIM Looks Like at Geisinger, Intermountain — When it comes to using data to predict, coordinate and guide patient care, no one does it better than these two health systems. Find out what they’re doing, and what you can learn from it. 4. Study: Rising Healthcare Costs Due to Technology, Not Uninsured Patients — Yep, that’s right. Technology is certainly improving healthcare, but it doesn’t come without a price. While it’s likely medical technology, rather than health IT, driving the most cost, when prices are higher in an era of value, people take note.  5. 10 Steps for Ensuring HIPAA Compliance — A data breach is a dreaded event for any hospital or healthcare provider. Learn how to protect your organization — and your patients’ personal health information.