HIMSS Assembles Medical Advisory Panel to Guard Against COVID-19

UPDATE 03/05/2020: HIMSS Conference Cancelled Following WHO and CDC Reports on COVID-19

HIMSS has escalated its preparations to prevent the spread of COVID-19, with no plans to cancel this year’s healthcare IT-focused industry event.

In its latest update, HIMSS organizers acknowledged that over the past week the novel coronavirus “has become a global topic of concern,” with government officials in Florida – the state that hosts HIMSS – having declared a public health emergency on March 1st.

Offering some further context, HIMSS’ statement explained that declaring a public health emergency helps to “free up government resources to focus on responding to the health situation.” Meanwhile, “Florida remains open for business with careful monitoring of the situation,” with Orlando resorts and parks still open.

For its part, HIMSS says it has organized “an external panel of medical professionals to further advise our evidence-based decision-making and review our procedures,” and has also taken multiple steps to ensure that this year’s event, slated to run from March 9th to 13th, will be safe for participants. Such measures include the implementation of an event-wide handshake-free policy; offering telehealth access to physicians; organizing three medical offices on-site, including one dedicated to flu and coronavirus symptoms; and increasing the number of hand sanitation sites on the grounds, among other steps.

With biometric technology seeing escalating adoption in the healthcare sector, FindBiometrics maintains plans to attend HIMSS 2020 and provide live coverage from the event. FindBiometrics President Peter O’Neill is slated to have a fireside chat with IDEMIA’s Senior Director of Technology, Tim Brown, on March 10th, which will delve into how mobile identity technology can help to transform healthcare.

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March 4, 2020 – by Alex Perala