HIMSS 2025: Excitement, anxiety and other takeaways

Las Vegas – In a way, it was appropriate that the HIMSS 2025 Global Health Conference & Exhibition took place in Las Vegas.

Reflecting a bit of the famed gambling capital, the health technology conference featured undeniable excitement, and a good amount of anxiety.

The HIMSS. 2025 Global Health Conference & Exhibition drew 28,000 people to Las Vegas. AI and cybersecurity were among the big topics.

The annual event is centered on the latest innovations in health technology, but it also features hundreds of panel discussions and education sessions covering most topics.

Hal Wolf, president and CEO of HIMSS, said the final attendance is still being tabulated but he estimated that 28,000 came to the conference this year, up from 26,000 last year. He also touted an uptick in HIMSS membership as well.

Here are some of my takeaways from the conference. I’ll offer a couple of caveats. I couldn’t attend every session, since that would require a big leap in cloning technology. There are several sessions going on at any given time, so it requires picking and choosing. While I talked to plenty of those in attendance, I would be fibbing to say I chatted with everyone.

Still, I attended many sessions and interviewed or spoke with a host of healthcare leaders from a variety of organizations and professions, and heard things that were interesting, illuminating, and at times, surprising.

AI continues to evolve

At the opening of the conference, Wolf jokingly challenged attendees to find a booth on the floor that didn’t mention AI. Many laughed because it was funny and true.

AI dominated many of the conversations at the conference, with solutions aimed at hospitals, payers and providers of all kinds. In a continuing trend over the last year, conversations around AI are becoming deeper and more nuanced, as organizations are seeking tools that will help them.

At a time when many health systems are still dealing with modest operating margins, even vendors acknowledge that providers aren’t going to invest in an AI solution – or any digital tool – unless they see a strong chance of a return on investment.

Hospital leaders I spoke to also said that they continue to get too many pitches from AI vendors touting technology without a clear use for some of their current problems. Note to AI companies: Do some homework and find out what your target audience needs.

Health systems continue to focus primarily on AI tools to simplify administrative tasks for their workforce. There’s growing enthusiasm for AI note-taking tools that summarize appointments with patients, easing headaches for doctors and nurses. Executives and clinicians say the tools enable better conversations, since doctors and nurses can look at patients while talking to them, as opposed to a computer screen.

There was also more discussion about agentic AI, referring to AI tools that can perform more complex tasks on their own without human supervision.

Worries about Washington

Healthcare leaders are increasingly anxious about the level of federal funding for health and research, as President Trump continues cuts across the government.

The concerns over federal funding were voiced repeatedly in panel discussions and in conversations at the conference. With Congress still working on a federal spending plan, it’s unclear how much money will be available for hospitals, universities, academic medical centers and Medicare and Medicaid.

Still, some said they were unsettled by the NIH cutting funds for “indirect” costs of research. The NIH said the move is designed to trim excessive overhead costs and would save $4 billion annually, but hospitals and universities say the cuts will halt some research. A federal judge has halted the cuts for now, but the legal battle will continue.

Trump has said he won’t cut Medicare and Medicaid, but a budget plan approved by the House calls for hundreds of billions in cuts from the House committee that oversees Medicaid.

Hospitals and healthcare organizations should expect to see less federal support next year, Wolf suggested. Some academic medical centers are already looking to cut spending in anticipation of reduced spending.

There’s also concern about how staffing cuts at the FDA could potentially slow approvals for new devices and therapies. The FDA has brought back some staff that were initially ousted, but there’s likely to be some lingering delays.

One last though on this topic: most leaders said they aren’t panicking about what’s happening in Washington, since there are still so many unknowns. But I think it’s safe to say many healthcare organizations are bracing for disappointing levels of spending.

Cybersecurity concerns

The excitement healthcare leaders have about AI matches the concern they have about cyberattacks. And it’s no wonder: hundreds of cyberattacks have targeted healthcare in recent years. And the conference comes about a year after the Change Healthcare ransomware attack, which impacted 190 million people.

HIMSS just completed its annual survey of cybersecurity pros, and three in four respondents said their organizations have suffered a cyberattack in the past 12 months.

Paul Nakasone, a retired four-star Army general, delivered a stirring call for a new national strategy for cybersecurity, with greater government investments and a focus on developing more young talent to enter cybersecurity.

Many health systems say they’ve struggled to find cybersecurity pros, who can make more in other sectors. Lee Kim, senior principal of cybersecurity and privacy at HIMSS, said that may be true but also suggested some may need to revisit their searches, since she knows of experienced cybersecurity pros who are seeking jobs in the healthcare industry.

Several experts on panels at HIMSS delivered the sobering assessment that all healthcare organizations will likely suffer a breach. Jeff Tully, co-director of the University of California San Diego Center for Cybersecurity, said that all organizations are going to fail at some point when it comes to cybersecurity, but the goal should be to “fail better.”

In a positive development, more health organizations are developing solid business continuity plans to deal with breaches and a lack of access to their computer networks, a step Kim said was sorely needed.

It’s also good to see growing attention on the threats of cyberattacks on smaller hospitals and rural hospitals.

Virtual nursing

Some hospitals and health systems have developed “virtual nursing” programs, and some good results.

With virtual nursing programs, patients interact with nurses remotely for task such as admission and getting instructions for when they leave the hospital, such as medication plans. Hospitals with these programs still have patients on the floor, a necessity for direct patient care. But the virtual nurses are reducing stress on the nurses physically in the units, giving them more time to care for patients and helping them be less rushed.

MD Anderson, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, and the Medical University of South Carolina (CHECK!) all reported encouraging results from these programs. They say patients have offered good feedback, saying they can ask more questions. Nurses on the floors have said they feel more supported as well.

Nursing leaders also say virtual nursing units offer a way to keep experienced nurses who still have much to offer, but may be weary of working 12-hour shifts on the floor.

A key to the success of these programs: Get nurses deeply involved in the design and operation of virtual nursing programs (and any initiative involving patient care.)

• Read more: Building a virtual nursing program for success

Staffing shortages

The growing interest in AI, virtual nursing and other tools reflects the simple reality that many (perhaps most) hospitals and health systems continue to struggle to recruit and retain staff.

Hospitals are generally faring better than they did a few years ago, but few healthcare executives say they have all the staff that they want. Nursing continues to be a challenge, but hospitals continue to look for workers in other key roles, including technicians, security, and cybersecurity, as noted above.

Arthur C. Evans Jr., CEO of the American Psychological Association, talked about the need to use technology to reach out to more people who may need assistance. He said behavioral health providers are largely focusing on people coming to them and aren’t reaching out to those who have not been diagnosed.

Technology is essential to reach out to those who need assistance.

“The only way this can work is if you have enough clinicians,” Evans said. “We know we don’t have enough clinicians.”