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HIMSS Cancels HIMSS20

March 5, 2020 News 6 Comments

HIMSS announces that it has cancelled the HIMSS20 conference, following recent coronavirus reports from WHO and CDC.

HIMSS President and CEO Hal Wolf said in a statement, “We recognize all the hard work that so many have put into preparing for their presentations and panels that accompany every HIMSS conference. Based on evaluation of evolving circumstances and coordination with an external advisory panel of medical professionals to support evidence-based decision making, it is clear that it would be an unacceptable risk to bring so many thousands of people together in Orlando next week.”

The advisory panel said that risk could not be assessed due to frequent coronavirus updates. It also expressed concerns about taking healthcare workers away from their jobs.

This is the first time the annual conference has been cancelled in its 58-year history.

All CHIME-related events scheduled for the week are also cancelled.

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A cancellation FAQ says:

  • The White House was not involved in the decision. HIMSS will work with the Office of the President to share the content of President Trump’s speech.
  • The conference will not be rescheduled.
  • HIMSS is working with hotels to address reimbursement. Airline travel will not be reimbursed.
  • Updates on registration refunds will be issued within 14 working days.
  • Exhibitors will be contacted with further information about booth contracts.
  • HIMSS has no plans to make sessions available virtually.


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Currently there are "6 comments" on this Article:

  1. As a registered attendee, I’ve received no notice of cancelation. Further, the HIMSS social media account hasn’t been updated yet. The poor communication coming from HIMSS is making a bad situation worse.

    Could a representative from HIMSS issue a public statement asap?

  2. This now officially confirmed on the HIMSS website: https://www.himssconference.org/updates/himss-update-coronavirus

    ORLANDO, Fla., March 5, 2020 – Today, following recent reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HIMSS announced it is clearly necessary to cancel the 2020 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition.

    “We recognize all the hard work that so many have put into preparing for their presentations and panels that accompany every HIMSS conference,” said Hal Wolf, president and CEO of HIMSS. “Based on evaluation of evolving circumstances and coordination with an external advisory panel of medical professionals to support evidence-based decision making, it is clear that it would be an unacceptable risk to bring so many thousands of people together in Orlando next week.”

    The advisory panel recognized that industry understanding of the potential reach of the virus has changed significantly in the last 24 hours, which has made it impossible to accurately assess risk. Additionally, there are concerns about disproportionate risk to the healthcare system given the unique medical profile of Global Conference attendees and the consequences of potentially displacing healthcare workers during a critical time, as well as stressing the local health systems were there to be an adverse event.

    This will be the first time in 58 years the event has been cancelled, but it is now clear that cancellation is unavoidable in order to meet HIMSS’ obligation to protect the health and safety of the global HIMSS community, employees and local residents, as well as for the healthcare providers tasked with keeping our U.S. and global communities healthy.

    HIMSS20 exhibitors and attendees will be contacted with further information regarding booth contracts and registrations. Please contact exhibitors@himss.org for immediate booth concerns. Any further updates regarding HIMSS20 will be published on himssconference.org.

    Please see the HIMSS20 Cancellation FAQ page for more information.

  3. Just received confirmation from CHIME that an e-mail was sent out from from the CEO cancelling the CHIME Symposium that occurs just before the HIMSS conference. Was scheduled to start Saturday.

  4. I am pretty confident that they will not release Trumps speech, because it would have not had anything to do with the topic he was suppose to talk on, which he knows nothing about, it would have been a campaign rally and attack on his opponents.







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