HIMSS25: Navigating the Cutting Edge of Healthcare Technology
Healthcare technology is evolving at an unprecedented rate. In just a few years, the industry has embraced everything from telehealth to wearable devices, virtual reality, and sophisticated AI applications. This rapid evolution, however, presents a significant challenge: healthcare leaders must be agile and strategic in their technology decisions.
“I think you go off on the ride, and I think if you are a mature leader, you know you have to be nimble, you have to be open…try not to look too far ahead but really be ready and adapt in the near future,” stated Gretchen Brown, chief nursing information officer at Stanford Medicine, during the HIMSS25 conference held in Las Vegas. Her words underscored a key theme of the event: the need for adaptability in an environment of constant technological change. However, agility should not mean simply adopting every new technology that appears.
The Rise of Agentic AI
HIMSS25 highlighted the growing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in all areas of healthcare. Among the various AI applications discussed – including generative AI and risk prediction – agentic AI emerged as a particularly promising area. Agentic AI systems can make decisions and take actions autonomously. In essence, they can perform tasks without direct human intervention.
These agentic AI tools have the potential to change healthcare workflow management by automating tasks, which could free up clinicians to focus on patient care. David Rhew, M.D., global chief medical officer and vice president of healthcare at Microsoft, emphasized this point upon the launch of the company’s new AI assistant for clinical workflow at the conference. “The movement to agentic AI is going to create more value than what we have seen in the past because — to give you an example, you have AI that identifies a whole bunch of prompts, and you just send it over to individuals to take care of, all you’ve done is add more to their work queue,” he explained.
“We care about the outcomes. That means if there are tasks that could be automated and agentic AI can perform that, that’s where the industry is going; that’s what people want.”
We care about the outcomes. That means if there are tasks that could be automated and agentic AI can perform that, that’s where the industry is going; that’s what people want.
David Rhew, M.D., Global chief medical officer and vice president of healthcare, Microsoft
Aashima Gupta, global director of healthcare strategy and solutions, agreed that agentic AI represents a significant advancement. However, she noted that not all administrative tasks are suitable for agentic AI. For simpler tasks such as writing an appeal letter, a basic solution might be all that’s needed. Where AI can truly shine is in optimizing efficiency. For example, AI agents could help reduce colonoscopy cancellations by automating patient reminders about preparation procedures, according to insights shared by Hannah Koczka, vice president of ventures and innovation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Rebecca Mishuris, chief medical information officer and vice president of digital at Mass General Brigham expressed caution regarding the widespread adoption of agentic AI, stating that it’s essential for the healthcare industry to implement proper safeguards. “We don’t quite understand it; we don’t know how to monitor it; what are we as a society comfortable with allowing AI to just do on its own versus having a human in the loop?” she asked. “Clearly, there is a role for it, but it is pretty narrow right now, I would say, in healthcare.”
The Smart Hospital Room
Developments in remote care technologies are also driving significant changes in hospital design. The concept of ‘smart’ patient rooms is becoming central to this transformation.
Valley Health System, based in Paramus, New Jersey, is integrating technology into its new campus design, introducing “smart” patient rooms. These rooms feature 75-inch TVs, facilitating synchronous telehealth visits with care teams, alongside access to medical information, educational resources, entertainment, and tools to promote relaxation. Moreover, the health system has installed AI-driven fall prevention solutions in all medical-surgical rooms, along with digital door signs and in-room clinical PCs to ease the transition between shifts. A critical step in designing and implementing these rooms was to allow staff to test the technology before their actual deployment.
“We created a whole test lab, so we could put all of the technology we were thinking about implementing in one place to not just test them but to run continuous simulations and adjust workflow,” said Andrea Valtos, assistant vice president of information systems, Valley Health System, during a HIMSS25 session. “So, we actually had staff come over to the test lab, try out the technology, talk about how that interacted with their regular operations. And we tweaked [the tech] multiple times because of that.”
VR and Mental Healthcare
Virtual Reality (VR) technology is proving to be a valuable tool for mental healthcare, by simulating realistic settings. This technology is especially useful in exposure therapy.
“Our memories are not just verbal…tone of voice, textures, colors, smells, all of that gets lost in a verbal therapy session alone. We think the processing is, in layman’s terms, more complete [with VR]. Trauma memories, in particular, are very rich sensory memories.”
“Our memories are not just verbal…tone of voice, textures, colors, smells, all of that gets lost in a verbal therapy session alone. We think the processing is, in layman’s terms, more complete [with VR]. Trauma memories, in particular, are very rich sensory memories.”
Jo Ann Difede, Ph.D., Psychology professor and director of the Virtual Reality Lab and Program for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress, Weill Cornell Medical College
During an interview at HIMSS25, Dr. Jo Ann Difede, a psychology professor and director of the Virtual Reality Lab and Program for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress at Weill Cornell Medical College, discussed a potential VR treatment for PTSD patients suffering from the aftereffects of the 9/11 attacks. Patients would immerse themselves in a detailed VR world that replicates the sights and sounds of the World Trade Center. The therapist uses additional stimuli to allow the patient to confront traumatic experiences in a controlled environment. The use of VR in PTSD therapy offers clear advantages since patients are more likely to continue using the technology than they are in traditional treatments, where the dropout rates are quite high.
A Thoughtful Approach to Technology Adoption
The vast amount of new technology available and the pressure to remain competitive can lead healthcare leaders to invest without careful consideration. Mike Mosquito, president and CEO of HealthNovation, recommends a more thoughtful approach. He emphasizes the need to assess whether an organization has the necessary tech capabilities and the specific skills required to deploy it, cautioning against following trends blindly.
“Are you mature enough to adapt and adopt these technologies?” Mosquito asked during a HIMSS panel. “[You can’t just] say we want to buy [a tool] because the hospital across the street is.”
Another crucial factor is remaining focused on the needs of patients. Khan Siddiqui, MD, co-founder, CEO, and chairman of healthcare AI company HOPPR, shared his perspective during a panel discussion: “At the end of the day, all of us here are here because we are taking care of a patient… So that has to be the top of the pyramid where everybody’s focus is — how you make a decision, how you think of technology, how will it impact that patient and the community of those patients, the patient population you are trying to address.”
