Today, HIMSS announced it is acquiring Health 2.0, the conference organization focused on healthcare technology innovation.
HIMSS CEO H. Stephen Lieber said that while HIMSS has traditionally focused on mainstream technologies deployed by hospitals, networks and physician groups, the acquisition will make it possible for HIMSS to have a greater influence on the cutting edge of health IT.
“We will be able to provide the HIMSS opportunity for early-stage developers, help them get faster recognition and a better idea of what problems providers need to solve, and give them a connection to the mainstream marketplace,” Lieber said.
Health 2.0 Conferences have attracted entrepreneurs, investors and healthcare business executives for multi-day events that feature new product demos and presentations from thought leaders.
Lieber said that Health 2.0 CEO Indu Subayia, MD will join HIMSS as Executive Vice President and co-chairman Matthew Holt will serve as a consultant; both will co-host Health 2.0’s Annual Fall and Wintertech conferences as well as its international events.
“Health 2.0 will be a separate business unit in HIMSS under the Health 2.0 name. It’s additive to what we do,” Lieber said.
Health 2.0 has a 50,000-strong global community that looks to it for education, networking, training —activities that Lieber said are all in the HIMSS wheelhouse.
In addition to the annual fall and winter shows, Health 2.0’s roster includes events in Europe, India and Japan. In June, it will present HXREFACTORED in Cambridge, MA, a conference that will focus on the challenge of improving health experiences through human-centered design.
Some of the events, such as existing HIMSS and Health 2.0 conferences in Barcelona could become co-located. But Lieber said that if this happens, the key will be to keep the programming targeted at each specific audience. Health 2.0 Europe is scheduled for May 3 – 5 in Barcelona.
“All these stages of technology development overlap, they’re not standalone,” Lieber said. “So there’s real value in connecting with each of these audiences.”
The Health 2.0 11th Annual Fall Conference is scheduled for October 1 – 4, 2017 in Santa Clara, CA.
