In Part 2 of our interview with Dr. Meong Hi Son, Samsung Medical Center CMIO, she explains that improvements to clinical workflows are more likely to come from clinicians who are confident with new tools than from top-down mandates.

In Part 1 of our interview with Samsung Medical Center CMIO Dr. Meong Hi Son, she says that HIMSS maturity models have helped the hospital fill its technology gaps, but that an engaged workforce educated in digital tools keeps it innovating.

Dr. Jonathan Nebeker, CMIO at the Department of Veterans Affairs, says the VA seeks to engage with health systems, vendors and others to develop interoperability solutions that can connect veterans to community-based benefits.

Senior Executive HIMSS Changemaker Awardee Patrick Bizeau, Swiss Medical Network CIO, says working with vendors to develop more user-friendly, secure AI tools can help prevent clinicians from using consumer AI models at work.

All publicly funded Italian hospitals have adopted HIMSS' EMRAM and INFRAM models to assess their digital maturity and demonstrate the benefits of digitization, says Elena Sini, HIMSS board chair and group CIO at Italy's GVM Care and Research.

While there were many fascinating speakers at HIMSS26, our interviews reveal that conference-goers also value the unique opportunities to connect with and learn from peers and leaders in the halls.

While agentic AI can surface important insights from volumes of data, project professionals have the skills to provide the structure and clarity teams need, says Karla Mae Eidem of the Project Management Institute.

HIMSS26 attendees share their learnings about AI, interoperability and other hot healthcare topics at the conference.