HIMSS establishes worldwide hub for health and health IT testing

6 March 2013

The Chicago-based Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is setting up a testing, demonstration, exhibition, and educational facility in the newly-named Global Center for Health Innovation (formerly the Cleveland Medical Mart) in Cleveland, Ohio. HIMSS also plans to double the size of the exhibition space by 2016. 

The HIMSS Innovation Center will provide ongoing services for health delivery organizations and health IT companies, along with exhibitions, educational programming, and consumer-oriented applications. In addition, the year-round interoperability showcase and exhibition space will further validate functionality for new and developing products using standards and customized testing in both a physical and virtual demonstration environment.

With its scenario-based setting, the HIMSS Health IT Ecosystem will provide a fully operational, multi-facility environment populated with simulated patient demographic, clinical and financial data. The health and healthcare communities will be able to plug into this environment and both test and demonstrate a specific product’s interoperability capabilities.

At the HIMSS Healthcare Technology Showcase, the health and healthcare community will find opportunities to participate in long-lasting exhibits themed around harnessing the power of IT in vital issues such as mobile devices, consumer-driven healthcare, and evidence-based care. The themed exhibits will show the value of the participating technologies in specific-use cases of the highlighted theme and serve as a point of collaboration.

HIMSS testing and educational services will be available virtually worldwide. The HIMSS space in the Global Center for Health Innovation will become a worldwide hub for health and health IT testing, demonstration, exhibitions, and consumer products, including the latest breakthroughs in mobile health devices and distance medicine technology.

The HIMSS educational offerings will leverage a variety of interoperability platforms, partner with other leaders in the facility, and create a full menu of educational programming for health and healthcare sector learners and conferences housed in the adjacent Cleveland Convention Center.

“We look forward to the opening in October of the HIMSS Innovation Center in the Global Center for Health Innovation. As we continue to build on our more than 14 years of leadership in and support of achieving seamless, secure exchange of electronic health information, our focus at HIMSS continues on interoperability, standards and harmonization initiatives, here in Cleveland and across the globe,” says H. Stephen Lieber, CAE, HIMSS President and CEO.

 The Global Center for Health Innovation is the only facility in the world that displays the future of health and healthcare, the majority of the participating partners have global reach and reputation, and the participating partners will draw international visitors to their spaces within the Global Center. HIMSS joins Cleveland Clinic, GE Healthcare, Johnson Controls, University Hospitals and Philips Healthcare as charter tenants in the Global Center.