ORLANDO, Fla. (March 5, 2020)–The Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) has cancelled the 2020 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition.
“We recognize all the hard work that so many have put into preparing for their presentations and panels that accompany every HIMSS conference,” HIMSS President and CEO Hal Wolf said in a news release announcing the closure. “Based on evaluation of evolving circumstances and coordination with an external advisory panel of medical professionals to support evidence-based decision making, it is clear that it would be an unacceptable risk to bring so many thousands of people together in Orlando next week.”
This will be the first time in 58 years the event has been cancelled. President Trump , Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrat Seema Verma were all scheduled to appear at the conference.
In its release, the organization said that its advisory panel "recognized that industry understanding of the potential reach of the virus has changed significantly in the last 24 hours, which has made it impossible to accurately assess risk." It also cited concerns about disproportionate risk to the healthcare system given the unique medical profile of the conference's attendees and the consequences of potentially displacing health care workers during a critical time, as well as stressing the local health systems were there to be an adverse event.
Please see the HIMSS20 Cancellation FAQ page for more information. Further updates regarding HIMSS20 will be published on himssconference.org.
