The Annual Congress of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is an important event that takes place every year; health stakeholders from all the world analyze the progressive transformation that the health sector is going through related to the adoption of technology. More than 44.000 health technology professionals from around the world gather to exchange ideas, technologies and discuss the progress of their projects.
Santiago Troncar, CEO of FutureDocs Latin America, attended its 2019 edition and covered the event. His article was in the front page of the health magazine “Revista Médicos”. In the article, he discusses different conclusions that were reached at the event, such as the fact that we are facing a new reality that is gradually advancing in the digitization of the health system, generating great expectations. However, although digital medicine advances year after year, its protagonists recognize that the process is slower and more difficult than expected.
Santiago Troncar with Hal Wolf, president & CEO of HIMSS
In his article, Santiago Troncar explains that as discussed during the congress, technology is the easy part while the hard one is people and their fear of change. While physicians face cultural, ethical and safety dilemmas about medicine “at a distance”, patients seek “non-traditional” medical care points that adapt to the digital world in which they are involved: “The sector is still far from being comfortable with the regulatory framework, the innovations and their incipient results ”, he explains.
Troncar points out that perhaps the synthesis proposed by the “champion of digital health” @RasuShrestha at the congress is the best summary of the sector’s state: “Hype, Hope, Here”. The advance of this new digital reality in the health sector generates high expectations and fuels the “hype” that produce opportunities with great potential such as artificial intelligence or personalized medicine. “The roulette is already in motion and the different players in the sector place their bets. All strategies are valid, except staying out of the game”, concludes Troncar in his article.
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