HIMSS13, the annual conference of the Health Information and Management and Systems Society, wrapped up in New Orleans last Thursday. The five-day conference and exhibition drew nearly 35,00 attendees this year, thanks in part to high-profile speakers such as former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Eric Topol, chief academic officer at Scripps Health and author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine.

Here are five key ideas that came out of the conference:

1.)Interoperability is essential. So essential, in fact, that HIMSS dedicated an entire room to it at the event. The Interoperability Showcase gathered products from medical device manufacturers and featured displays explaining how their products could work together seamlessly. Also at the event, five EMR providers announced the creation of the Commonwell Health Alliance, a nonprofit trade association that will create an infrastructure for interoperability across health IT organizations.

2.)Medicine should be personalized and patient-centered. Topol has been preaching that message for a while, and he reiterated it last week at HIMSS. As reported by Information Week’s Ken Terry:

3.)Healthcare could learn something from the airline industry. Of course, there’s a lot not to like about air travel, but according to Information Week’s Chris Murphy, the airline industry does get a few things right:

4.)Mobile health is becoming a "must-have." If your company isn’t looking for a way to make your medical device products mobile, you’re behind the times. But as Keith L. Martin of Physician’s Practice reports, Richard Krohn, president of health IT consulting firm HealthSense told HIMSS attendees that they need to keep an open mind about mobile technologies.

5.)Investments in healthcare are important. Ever since the Great Recession, “investment” has been a four letter word for companies, which have been tasked with doing more with less. But at HIMMS, Clinton reminded attendees of the old saying you’ve got to spend money to make money. "No country, in my opinion, can sustain a healthy economy … [without spending]," he told the crowd. As reported by Physicians Practice’s Marisa Torrieri:

What were your favorite lessons from HIMSS13? Share them with us in the comments below.

—Jamie Hartford is the managing editor of MD+DI.  

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