The HIMSS18 Conference & Exhibition brought nearly 44,000 members of the health IT community to Las Vegas. The digital footprint was equally massive as over 44,000 Twitter users engaged with the #HIMSS18 hashtag - reaching over 79 million people with 119,000 tweets over the course of five days. To give its social media audiences a digital insider's view in to the conference, the HIMSS Social Media Team live streamed and shared highlights to help tell the story of HIMSS18 for its attendees and those following along at home. Read more.

Sepsis remains the leading cause of death in hospitals, despite the fact that sepsis starts outside the hospital about 80 percent of the time. Starting in 2012, emergency and critical care departments at NCH Healthcare System championed a quality project initiative aimed at reducing sepsis mortality rates. By implementing the appropriate notification alerts within each patient’s electronic medical record (EMR), staff are able to monitor each patient’s risk for sepsis ahead of time. Read more.

Organizations across the healthcare continuum – from ambulatory physician practices to acute care facilities – rely heavily on advanced technologies with modern architectures and frameworks to create a smooth flow of data between care settings. Historically, however, home care agencies and other post-acute organizations have been left behind technologically and patient data has been siloed by dysfunctional, incompatible health IT platforms. Healthcare now lives in an interconnected environment and is moving away from a volume-based model to value-based care, and it’s time for post-acute providers to catch up. Read full blog.

Each year, two to three million lives are saved globally by vaccinations, according to the World Health Organization. In fact, immunizations have led to better health outcomes, higher clinician productivity, and reduced medical costs. Acknowledging the benefits of tracking immunization data through health information technology (IT) systems, the HIMSS Immunization Integration Program (IIP), a voluntary testing program, recognizes the first set of electronic health record products that have fulfilled the testing requirements and program guidelines for immunization-related capabilities. Read full story.

In the latest Code Red episode, “Educating a Cybersecurity Workforce the NICE Way,” host Rod Piechowski speaks with Rodney Peterson, Director of National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) at the US Department of Commerce.  NICE is a partnership between government, academia, and the private sector focused on cybersecurity education, training, and workforce development. Visit the HIMSS Privacy and Security Resource page on HIMSS.org to see the latest cybersecurity news. Listen to the podcast, and learn more about how digital health brings value to organizations on the HIMSS Value Suite site.