Lookback 2022: Healthcare Has Its Conference Moment

A key historically popular conference had lower attendance as a mix of stakeholders preferred events offering convenience, innovation, and even a taste of the conceptual.

If conference attendance is a sign of a return to normalcy, we truly did enter a different phase of the pandemic in 2022. But change was still in the air — from stalwart events to the up-and-comers.

Conference loyalty is shifting

Once upon a time, the healthcare conference scene resembled Gen X's TV programming: just a few channels to choose from. This included, and still does, HIMSS. But its impact has changed, including the March 2022 conference.

"At its pinnacle, HIMSS was must-see TV. Fail to attend and you risked the impression of being in trouble or inconsequential. That isn’t the case any longer. At a time when record investment is occurring in health IT, HIMSS is a shadow of itself."

This from Dan D’Orazio, CEO of Sage Growth Partners, who also notes the new conference competitors.

"It’s clear that HIMSS is not the only game in town anymore. Although ViVE is a much smaller event, some attendees said they chose one or the other. The crowds were very different; ViVE seemed to draw more strategic personas, versus more operational attendees at HIMSS."

D'Orazio added: "Throw in HLTH (health), held in October, and the competition for travel budgets has increased further. Competition is not a good thing when attendees are questioning the value they receive from traveling to conferences like HIMSS."

Digital dominance

ViVE launched in 2022 and HLTH in 2018, with both representing a new generation of innovation- and tech-focused healthcare conferences.

Anno domini 2022 was also the first year for a dedicated health track at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Big tech was abuzz with healthcare's growing strength in the digital consumer space with HealthLeaders' Eric Wicklund and CES attendee noting this in his January conference coverage.

"Digital health has been gradually taking over more and more floor space at CES, as the consumer technology industry takes a liking to healthcare. This year's event … touched on several interesting trends, including wearables, AI, remote patient monitoring, and digital therapeutics."

Wicklund added that CES vendors were "also teasing out integrations with healthcare providers as they try to bridge the gap between consumer-facing and clinical-friendly."

CES 2022 was also the first year for a healthcare keynote, from Abbott Laboratories CEO and board chair Robert Ford. On the payer side, Humana — as in year's past — was the

only health insurer to present and is still the CES organization's only health plan member.

The big ideas

The Aspen Ideas Festival (AIF) is another conference where healthcare is gaining ground. AIF has been around since 2005, adding a separate Health conference in 2013. Next year will mark the event's 10-year anniversary.

Much like AIF, Aspen Ideas: Health is organized around broader cultural and social concepts. In 2022, those themes included: Hope, Disruption, Get Smart, Influence, Pleasure, and Security. The 2023 agenda boasts seven new big ideas: Power of Design, Science of Tomorrow, The Healing Economy, Planet Health, How to Thrive, Spotlight on Women's Health, and The Senses.

Location, location, location

In addition to budget constraints, convenience influenced attendance choices. Comparing HLTH 2022 to the upcoming JPMorgan Healthcare conference in January 2023, Sage's D’Orazio again notes:

"HLTH’s tight Las Vegas layout beats the high cost, complex logistics, and frequently moody Frisco weather at Morgan — literally and figuratively in an economic down year. Work-life balance applies equally to the conference circuit, evidenced by the investment bankers at HLTH who were begging people to bypass JPM so they could too. It’s the first time in two decades that even big-time players are likely steering clear."

While the economy is a big reason, it doesn’t mean 2022 conferences didn't pull out all the stops, including end-of-day happy hours. In addition to holding its own June 2022 summit. Going Digital: Behavioral Health Tech (GDBHT) — the brainchild of innovation dynamo Solome Tibebu — hosted an after-hours network event during AHIP's September Consumer Experience & Digital Health Forum. 

Both GDBHT events were in Nashville, a long-time healthcare "it" city before that designation expanded to the entire community, buoyed by a new brand of tourism and rowdy bachelorette parties.

In November, Nashville was also the site of the Emids Healthcare Summit. The conference — which attendees seemed to enjoy even if they couldn't quite remember the name — brought to the city an under-represented but much-desired stakeholder segment: pharma.

The 2023 circuit

So what will healthcare do with its conference moment? Expect the industry to continue demonstrating its growing digital muscle despite an uncertain economy, more panels featuring multi-stakeholder collaboration, and for health equity to advance on healthcare's agenda. All this amidst conference sessions both attended and skipped as networking and deal-making spill from ballrooms into hallways and happy hours.