Over the past few years, U.S. healthcare organizations have poured billions of dollars into information technology. But what kind of return are healthcare providers getting on these massive investments? And how can they maximize the value of IT to both improve patient care and streamline operations?

HIMSS15 attendees can explore the answers to these questions at the annual conference’s first Health IT Value Suite, which will feature patient and healthcare provider success stories that illustrate the ROI possible from health information technology during a time of huge change to the U.S. healthcare system.

“There’s a lot of pressure on health IT from the C-suite and boards of directors to deliver better care, improve patient outcomes and save money,” says Patricia Wise, HIMSS vice president of healthcare information systems. “Simultaneously, regulatory forces from the government are pushing organizations toward value, and the payment structure is being influenced by this.”

Which means the time to demonstrate value is right now. 

“We’re moving from a period of implementing IT to one of deriving the value from the recently implemented IT,” Wise says. “Just by putting IT into healthcare doesn’t generate all the potential value.”

The Health IT Value Suite will highlight the proven benefits of health IT in six areas: clinical decision support, remote monitoring, clinical analytics, information exchange for care coordination, patient safety, and accountable care organizations.

These half-dozen themes are addressed within the HIMSS STEPS model, a framework for assessing and increasing the value of healthcare IT. The STEPS model will be front and center on a large LED screen in the value suite, Wise says.

“It’s interactive,” she adds, “so people at the Health IT Value Suite can demonstrate to attendees the STEPS model and framework.”

The STEPS model outlines five kinds of value that benefit patients, healthcare providers and communities: Satisfaction, Treatment/Clinical, Electronic Information/Data, Prevention and Patient Education, and Savings.

Wise says the informal nature of the Health IT Value Center will make it ideal for attendees to question other healthcare professionals about how they used IT to generate greater value.

“The area is configured in a big u-bar, kind of like barstool seats,” she says. “This gives attendees an opportunity in a relaxed environment to have a one-on-one dialog with folks who literally sweated cannonballs along the way before they got to the point where they were deriving value from their IT.”

The Health IT Value Center is ideal for clinicians and providers. “The quality struggle, the value struggle is kind of laid at their doorstep,” Wise says.

Find the HIMSS Value Suite in the South Building, Hall A, Booth 4891.