HIMSS 2025 conference: What’s big and what’s new this year

Over the next several days, Sin City shines a spotlight on the healthcare industry and offers a showcase for the latest gear, tech and tools.

The HIMSS 2025 Global Health Conference & Exhibition kicks off today in Las Vegas and runs through Thursday. Hundreds of panel discussions, education sessions, and meetings will be taking place over the next four days at the Venetian Convention and Expo and at Caesars Forum.

Hal Wolf, president and CEO of HIMSS, says that more than 30,000 people are expected to attend the conference. Nearly 1,000 companies are exhibiting at the conference.

In an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive® that took place a few weeks before the big event, Wolf said attendance was tracking to be a bit above last year’s event in Orlando.

HIMSS boasts having the largest global health tech community with 125,000 individual members and hundreds of providers and health services organizations. So naturally, the digital transformation of health care will be a central theme of the conference.

“It sits at the core of who we are and what our members are looking for and what the exhibitors are bringing forward,” Wolf said. “How do we help organizations, you know, transform?”

Here’s the safest bet in Vegas this week: Expect plenty of conversations about artificial intelligence in healthcare.

“AI is huge. We're seeing a big increase in the number of applications that are being brought forward for operational purposes,” Wolf says. (See part of our conversation with Hal Wolf in this video. The story continues below.)

In the opening keynote address, Dr. Seung-woo Park, president of Samsung Medical Center in South Korea, will be talking about how the health system is using AI.

“We'll be talking about how they utilize information and artificial intelligence to have accelerated and improved their care, all the way across their very large and incredibly forward thinking hospital in Seoul,” Wolf says.

While AI has been a big topic of the last few HIMSS Conferences, it gets even more attention this year, with the debut of the new “AI Pavilion” featuring the latest tech solutions.

“This year, you're going to be hearing a lot of conversations of what has already been done and how that's being utilized, and what are the successes in utilization of AI. And it's really focusing on that operational side, which is where the majority of this work is occurring,” Wolf says.

As in the past few years, the HIMSS conference will feature plenty of discussions on cybersecurity. Hundreds of cyberattacks of hospitals, healthcare organizations and vendors have occurred in recent years, and three of four Americans were affected by breaches of private health data in 2024.

Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, the former head of the U.S. Cyber Command, is delivering one of the keynote addresses.

“Cybersecurity is front and center as well,” Wolf says.

HIMSS is presenting several new offerings this year, including the Emerge Innovation Experience, designed for startup companies. It’ll feature a pitch contest, one-on-one meetings, and more. “It's sort of a startup alley, if you would,” Wolf said.

There’s also a first-time exhibitors pavilion at Caesars Forum. Nearly 300 companies are exhibiting for the first time.

The conference will also focus heavily on workforce development, Wolf says. More than 300 educational sessions are scheduled, and more than 150 of them have continuing education accreditation.

This year, the HIMSS conference is going to provide more time for networking. The conference will have mid-day breaks in the education program to allow for more breaks for discussions and meeting with vendors.

Wolf also pointed to a forum on health equity as one of the most important features of the event.

“One of the most important components for HIMSS is also our support of health equity on a global basis. That's never going to go out of fashion,” Wolf says.

HIMSS looks to stick the landing with the closing of the conference. Simone Biles, the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast ever, will deliver the closing keynote address. Biles has emerged as an outspoken advocate for mental health.

Wolf suggests those attending HIMSS should put together a plan to scout out the panels and programs they’ll find most interesting.

“If you've never been to HIMSS before, it can be overwhelming, because there's so many options,” Wolf says. “There's so much to choose from.”