Healthcare IT News - March 2008 - (Page 6)

Healthcare IT News ■ March 2008 industry news www.HealthcareITNews.com HIMSS08: Looking back, in photographs Lasting images from hIMSS08, held last month in orlando, Fla., include, clockwise from top, a view of the entrance to the show floor at the orange county convention center; a busy computer terminal in the lobby; hIMSS President and cEo h. Stephen Lieber at the awards Dinner; a Q&a during one of the many educational sessions; a new product being demonstrated on the show floor; a packed audience during one of the educational sessions; and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, delivering an animated keynote speech on the first day of the show. By BERNIE MONEgAIN, Editor cHIcaGo cerner opts out of hIMSS09 – When the 2009 HIMSS Conference and Exhibition opens next April at McCormick Place in Chicago, it will include a projected 3.5 percent increase in reserved exhibition space, according to H. Stephen Lieber, president and CEO of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. But it won’t include the 9,000- to 10,000square-foot Cerner Corporation anchor booth, a presence on the show floor for several years. “After talking with our clients over the last year, Cerner Corporation decided not to exhibit at HIMSS 2009,” Cerner officials said in a statement attributed to Don Trigg, Cerner’s chief marketing officer, in response to an inquiry from Healthcare IT News. “We will continue to engage with HIMSS in areas ranging from core educational efforts to key industry topics like interoperability. We believe that there is a shared agenda. We plan to be active partners in helping to advance it.” Cerner officials told Lieber last month at HIMSS08 in Orlando, Fla., that they had decided not to return for the 2009 show. “The two organizations will work together,” Lieber asserted. “There are places where we are in sync together. There is an interest in working with them in other settings. The real message is it’s not an absolute separation between the two organizations.” Lieber said HIMSS has clear policies about how vendors who are not exhibitors can present themselves at the conference and show. For example, they are not permitted to sponsor educational sessions. However, Cerner clients can and are likely to be part of educational programs – sharing ideas and best practices. As with any other presenters, they would be permitted to talk about the products and companies they work e ● Connect: SoNItor 0308 the cerner booth has been an anchor presence at hIMSS conferences and exhibitions for years, but cerner has opted out for 2009. with, but refrain from making pitches. Sean W. Wieland, a senior research analyst who tracks Cerner for investment bank and securities firm Piper Jaffray, said he expects Cerner will have a sales presence at HIMSS09 – perhaps occupying a suite of private meeting rooms at McCormick Place in lieu of its show-floor booth. Wieland recalled other large vendors that have pulled out of HIMSS and returned later – such as SMS, or Shared Medical Systems, later acquired by Siemens. “I would imagine some financial person somewhere would argue that the ROI is not there,” Wieland said. However, he noted, those companies that have pulled out as exhibitors have returned to the show in later years. “We’ve been down this path before,” Lieber said. Microsoft, he noted, took a year off and returned the following year. “There is a psychological impact,” he acknowledged of Cerner’s decision to end its anchor presence on the show floor. “It has the potential of reflecting on both HIMSS and Cerner,” Lieber said. The move could cause people to question the value of the conference or raise questions about Cerner’s financial standing. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: HIMSS09 0308 ● http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.sonitor.com http://www.sonitor.com http://HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8861

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Healthcare IT News - March 2008 Contents No. 1 E-prescribing ‘Quite Bright’ Bill Frist on IT Google Connection Poised for P4P ‘Smashing Success’ Tough On Fraud It's Analytics Getting Rid of the Pain Stuck In Neutral

Healthcare IT News - March 2008

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