Giving a patient medications in the ER, having them pop positive on a test, and then withholding further medications because…
MEDITECH Pulls Out of HIMSS 2009
MEDITECH announced today that it will not attend the HIMSS conference in April, citing the expenses involved for both the company and attendees.
The statement of President and COO Howard Messing is as follows:
Participating in the annual HIMSS conference has proven to be beneficial to MEDITECH and LSS through the years, as we have been able to renew acquaintances, attract new customers, and showcase new product offerings there. Nonetheless, the current economic climate mandates we pay particular attention to spending resources wisely this year. Just as we encourage customers to make HCIS selections based on value, we too must carefully evaluate our expenses and focus on priorities. For this reason, MEDITECH and LSS will not attend the HIMSS conference this year. Instead we will use communication channels such as our extensive program of regional events, annual workshops, Webex demonstrations, and meditech.com to share information. Using this approach, we will be able to continue sharing information on key topics, control our expenses, and minimize everyone’s costs.
This has been a long time coming. For a number of years this rumor has floated around MEDITECH, though I am shocked to see a “same year” pull-out.
Meditech is a great vendor with a great product and great execution – they are smart…
I fear that this is just a start and will include not only vendors but a significant number of participants will be canceling. It would be interesting to know what the advance numbers are.
Bravo MEDITECH! I hope more vendors will be so prudent. After HIMSS in New Orleans I thought HIMSS needed to get back to basics. The whole venue has become one big job fair. It’s become a luxury and ROI isn’t what it should be. Well, that is unless you get a new job after attending.
Let’s also not forget Cerner has already said they would pull out last year. Who would have thought they did something proactive vs reactive. Shocker.
You could attend these events once every 10 years and not miss a thing.
I think you’ll see more of this in the coming weeks. Meditech opened the door and made a good statement regarding this, providing a path for others. HIMSS has become a haven for VC. With VC on the sidelines, not such a great avenue for vendors…
Knowing how MT runs the ship, I am surprised it has gone on this long. It is basically one big party for everyone in the business.
Congrats to Meditech. I would encourage all vendors – Cerner, McKesson, Eclipsys, Epic and Siemens to do the same. HIMSS – annual conference, has long lost its purpose. It is an unneccessary expense for both the participants and vendors.
For those that remember, Cerner backed out of it’s presence at HIMSS many months ago
CHIME and HIMSS – both a house of cards, and the techno mafia that has led to massive waste in American Healthcare…
Maybe HIMSS wiil take this queue and put some effort into a better online version.
Not surprising at all. Their HIMSS presence never reflected a vendor with the leading marketshare in the HIS arena. Back in 2000, MEDITECH also backed out of its own user group (MUSE) in favor of smaller (MIX) gatherings where their customers now visit them in Boston. History aside, this doesn’t bode well for HIMSS…
I agree this has been a long time coming, but not for the same reason as others on this post. For years Meditech has set atop the mount and said “Come to us, we will show you the way”! They stopped showing up for their own user conference because they know more about what you need than you do and now they’re thumbing their nose at the entire health care community. If this privately held company is having financial difficulties it has far more to do with them being out of touch than anything related to the economy. The last two companies that thought this highly of themselves were Novell and Nortel and I believe Meditech is heading down the same path.
By the way … HIMSS is what you make it. When’s the last time you presented on a topic or served on a committee? If you put nothing in, I have no doubt that’s what you’re getting out.
As I have mentioned above – the “industry” is full of over-bloated fat cats…we need to re-invent it. When the healthcare money runs out we will all nicely fit on MUMPS Vista…
They stopped showing up at their own user conference because their users know more than they do about their products. In fact, they should attend as guests and actually learn and improve their customer service.
MUSE was not MEDITECH’s user group. Frankly most vendors control their user groups it was a long time coming that MEDITECH pulled out of MUSE when other HCIS vendors were allowed to participate in it. It’s ridiculous to think they would not. Has anyone seen the EPIC new building construction. Uhm for their users? Cerner and others have had their own user groups for years. I’ve attended quite a few. To suggest MEDITECH pulling out of HIMSS is similar to them pulling out of a user group that was not even run by them has no merit.
Again, Cerner made this decision previously. Good for them. Are any other vendors listening? I agree with the comment that HIMSS is what you make of it. Unfortunately when many of the hospitals around are closing and the board or Steering Committee says what is in it for our organization to have you travel cross country for a few days – you had better have a good reason.
I would like to comment on how these decisions will effect the economy. Companies are stating that they are pulling out of conferences, canceling their user groups and cutting down on attending trade shows. I do believe it is time for companies to watch their spending, making better choices on what they are doing at each event, but not to totally cancel. These rash decisions are going to hurt all of the little companies and employees that will not be contracted to build the booths, carpet rentals, electrical, catering, etc. These rash decisions and the trickle effect is what is going to hurt our economy even more.
I have no inside knowledge, but it could be either that Meditech feels the marketing dollars are spent best elsewhere, or they have decided to shrink.
All I know is that a significant part of the Billions that are going to be flowing into the economy are due to pass through Healthcare IT. I can’t see deliberately causing the negative press that comes from a big empty space at a show if you think your company is going to be able to get some of the money and grow customers.
Just a ten thousand foot look at a circumstance.