This year's connectivity conference is scheduled for September 8-9 at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School in Boston. This is the same location as the inaugural conference in 2009, and was a great venue for both general sessions and break-out tracks. Exhibitor's booths line the wide walk ways that lead to the conference rooms, rather than a separate lobby (or tent as we had in San Diego in 2010).

I'm already working to line up speakers - if you've got a topic to suggest, or want to present yourself, let me know.

The focus of this year's conference may extend a bit beyond the acute care (hospital) market into ambulatory settings (patient's homes and use in daily life). Now there are already several conferences on connectivity in ambulatory markets (Healthcare Unbound, mHealth Summit, Connected Health Symposium), but they focus little on specific connectivity issues.

Conference topics typically come from recent and current issues that crop up  in my consulting practice, and buzz in the industry (which is where you come in). Here are some of the topics that are being considered for this year's conference:

  • Provider case studies on connectivity experience - EMR clinical documentation, surveillance, data aggregation, alarm notification, etc.
  • Physician office medical device connectivity - current state, trends, best practices, provider experience
  • A survey of the current state of medical device connectivity - solutions from medical device manufacturers and third party solutions
  • Standards - a survey of relevant standards, updates on IHE and HL7, which are getting adoption, recommendations for moving ahead
  • Hospital and IT governance issues that arise from the adoption of medical device connectivity
  • How connectivity is impacting Biomed and IT outsourcing business
  • A deeper dive into issues around IT and Biomed integration
  • Meaningful Use 2015:  "medical device interoperability" - what does it mean, and how can we achieve it in 4 short years?
  • Hospital experiences with Wi-Fi deployments
  • Wireless sensors, personal and body area networks - products, trends, success factors
  • Best practices for testing medical device connectivity, including IT infrastructure, for both manufacturers and providers
  • Remote service and connectivity, can they piggyback or leverage one another?
  • Topics around EMR integration - EMR vendor's rules of engagement, provider requirements, industry best practice

Current thoughts on post conference workshops:

  • Remote device management
  • Merging biomed and IT departments
  • Implementing IEC 80001
  • Testing wireless medical devices for providers and manufacturers
  • A how-to on use cases for connectivity workflow requirements
  • Implementation strategies for EMR/medical device connectivity

If you have any suggestions for this year's conference, you can leave comments here, or contact me directly. I'll also be at HIMSS and would be glad to meet up there.

Pictured are Eric McDonald with Hill-Rom and Trey Lauderdale of Voalte, at the 2009 Medical Device Connectivity Conference in Boston.

Here are some posts on previous years conferences:

Medical Device Connectivity Conference Wrap-up

First Ever Medical Device Connectivity Conference