You might have noticed that the HIMSS website looks a bit different today. It's the latest innovation from a global organization that has been innovating for more than half a century.

We checked in with Terri Sanders, senior vice president of enterprise marketing and communications at HIMSS (which is the parent company of Healthcare IT News) about how the new site is emblematic of something bigger: a new organizational vision, mission and strategy for helping its members improve health and healthcare worldwide.

Q. Why is now the right time for HIMSS to update its brand? Is healthcare at a pivotal moment? Is HIMSS?

A. We are all in the midst of one of the most exciting and transformative periods in healthcare. The health ecosystem is undergoing unprecedented change, fueled by disruptive innovation and a renewed focus on patient-centered care. Healthcare has always been dynamic, but today, the pace of change, is virtually continuous.

Technological advances are coming at us nonstop – not to mention the number of new stakeholders investing in health and care delivery. Emerging advances in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, personal devices and precision medicine have unlimited potential to improve health and wellness around the world.

But the promise of innovative information and technology is still out of reach for many who are struggling to acquire, implement and optimize it for everyday use – complicated by factors like high costs, regulatory fatigue and risk adversity.

"New ideas, systems and technology can be created, but until they're applied in the right places and at the right time, they will fall flat. HIMSS is empowering anyone striving to create something new or enact change in healthcare."

Terri Sanders, HIMSS

Expansive, complex, day-to-day issues also continue to overwhelm and exhaust health information and technology professionals, obstructing their ability to prioritize the patient and improve health and wellness for all.

HIMSS CEO and President Hal Wolf brought with him a clear vision and desire to help the organization be more impactful and meaningful. Through research and communication with HIMSS' members, executive leadership, board members and partners, it became apparent that the traditional value chain for the organization had shifted and we needed to respond, meaningfully.

Q. What is HIMSS aiming to communicate to its members – and potential future members – about what it can help various stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem achieve?

A. The brand realignment brings a breath of fresh air to the industry and empowers HIMSS' members, as well as the broader ecosystem, to promote, support and bring about the full health potential of every human, everywhere.

New ideas, systems and technology can be created, but until they're applied in the right places and at the right time it, they will fall flat. HIMSS is empowering anyone striving to create something new or enact change in healthcare. HIMSS can help push things forward, provide insights and share its vast knowledge of what works and what doesn't within the unique health ecosystem.

Q. Please describe HIMSS' new Mission and Vision. How have they changed from in years past?

A. Our dream is a world where everyone, everywhere, has access to a health ecosystem that works – one with the human at its heart.

HIMSS Vision: To realize the full health potential of every human, everywhere.

HIMSS Mission: To reform the global health ecosystem through the power of information and technology.

Our new vision and mission statements reflect our new organizational strategy as well as our recommitment to the individual – the patient, the human, the IT professional, the CEO, the innovator. They also more clearly state our intentions and responsibility to the health ecosystem as a whole.

Q. You've added a new word – "Health" – to what was once called the HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition. How come? Hasn't HIMSS always been about health?

A. HIMSS is recommitting to health, the industry and all of our members. Our new organizational strategy and brand put the human - the patient - at the center of all we do. Every year, thousands of champions and changemakers attend our Global Health Conference to learn, grow, network and make health better for their communities, friends, family and themselves. It's one of the largest educational events dedicated to health and we felt it was important that the name reflect that as well.

Q. The theme for HIMSS20 is "Be the Change." How should attendees interpret that, and how can they embody it?

A. Similar to HIMSS19 (where the evolution of HIMSS and the Global Health Conference first began to manifest), this year's theme is a celebration of those who have committed their lives and careers to transforming health.

It is also a call to all health professionals for bold action. Every revolution sparks from the brave and reimagining health is no different. We hope members, attendees and speakers will all be inspired and motivated to accept the challenge of coming together and reimagining health. HIMSS20 calls on us all to Be the Change.