Major Healthcare Conference Cancelled for First Time in 58 Years

Cancelling a major industry event like the annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) meeting could not have been an easy decision, but event organizers said Monday that it was "unavoidable" at this point. So far, attendees and vendors seem to be understanding of the news. “It is for sure a better case scenario of canceling instead of spreading and creating an epicenter for an epidemic across the U.S.," Ryan Basschief operations officer at TrackMy Solutions, told MD+DI shortly after he received word that the event was cancelled. "Hard to cancel a show of such size, but probably the right decision taking the population’s health into consideration.” This will be the first time in 58 years the event has been cancelled, but the organization said cancellation is "unavoidable" in order to protect the health and safety of the global HIMSS community, employees, and local residents, and healthcare providers. The event is unlikely to be rescheduled later in the year, but many exhibitors and speakers are already planning webinars and other virtual solutions. Shortly after the cancellation announcement, the Twitter hashtag #virtualHIMSS20 began to trend. “We recognize all the hard work that so many have put into preparing for their presentations and panels that accompany every HIMSS conference,” said Hal Wolf, president and CEO of HIMSS. â€...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Business Source Type: news