Why Some Well being IT Leaders Ought to Skip HIMSS26 (Even when they’ve liked HIMSS up to now)

I’ve been to HIMSS. Greater than as soon as.

I’ve walked the exhibit flooring till my toes harm, sat in packed periods scribbling notes, ducked into impromptu hallway conferences that was significant conversations, and felt that acquainted rush that comes from being surrounded by hundreds of people that imagine—earnestly—that expertise can nonetheless repair healthcare.

HIMSS is superb.

It’s large. It’s energizing. It’s in contrast to anything in well being IT.

And that’s precisely the issue.

For a rising variety of well being IT leaders, HIMSS has quietly crossed a line—from precious immersion to overwhelming extra. Not as a result of the convention has failed, however as a result of the realities of healthcare IT management have modified sooner than the convention mannequin itself.

The size that when impressed now exhausts

There was a time when the sheer measurement of HIMSS felt crucial. Healthcare IT was fragmented. Leaders wanted a single place to see every little thing without delay, distributors, requirements our bodies, policymakers, friends, futurists, all underneath one roof.

As we speak, that very same scale can really feel paralyzing.

The exhibit corridor alone is an train in cognitive overload. A whole lot of distributors, many providing overlapping options, every promising transformation. Classes compete for consideration, usually scheduled concurrently, forcing leaders to decide on between equally related (or equally obscure) discussions.

As a substitute of readability, many leaders go away with:

• Extra enterprise playing cards than insights
• Extra concepts than execution capability
• Extra follow-ups than time

In an trade already drowning in complexity, “every little thing without delay” is now not a characteristic—it’s friction.

The associated fee dialog has turn out to be unavoidable

Well being IT leaders are being scrutinized in methods they weren’t even 5 years in the past. Each journey, each convention, each line merchandise now carries weight.

HIMSS isn’t only a registration charge. It’s airfare, accommodations at premium pricing, meals, transportation, and—most expensively—time away from programs that don’t pause as a result of a CIO is in Las Vegas.

For leaders who’re:

• Underneath stress to regulate spend
• Managing leaner groups
• Answering straight for outcomes

The query isn’t whether or not HIMSS is “price it” in idea. It’s whether or not it delivers measurable, defensible worth relative to smaller, extra focused alternate options.

More and more, that reply isn’t computerized.

The content material drawback isn’t high quality—it’s distance from actuality

HIMSS periods are polished. Considerate. Usually well-produced.

However many well being IT leaders don’t battle with imaginative and prescient. They battle with execution.

They know AI is coming. They know interoperability issues. They know cybersecurity threats are escalating. What they need assistance with are the unglamorous questions:

• How can we combine this with out breaking workflows?
• How can we unwind a nasty vendor determination?
• How can we get clinicians to belief the system once more?
• How can we govern information when nobody agrees who owns it?

These conversations are tougher to stage on a large platform. They don’t lend themselves to tidy panels or sponsor-friendly narratives. Consequently, the content material can really feel more and more disconnected from the messiness leaders live day by day.

Vendor optimism vs. operator actuality

HIMSS is, by necessity, vendor-forward. That doesn’t make it illegitimate—nevertheless it does form the expertise.

The present flooring is designed to spotlight what’s attainable, not what’s painful. Failure tales are uncommon. Lengthy-term penalties are softened. Complexity is abstracted.

For leaders who spend their days coping with:

• Implementation overruns
• Contract fatigue
• Integration debt
• Put up-go-live remorse

The disconnect may be jarring. The optimism doesn’t at all times really feel dishonest—nevertheless it usually feels incomplete.

AI has moved from pleasure to fatigue

AI will dominate HIMSS26. That’s not hypothesis—it’s certainty.

However many well being IT leaders have moved previous pleasure into discernment. They aren’t asking what AI can do. They’re asking the place it breaks, who owns the chance, and the way they’ll be held accountable when it fails.

HIMSS excels at showcasing risk. It struggles to dwell in upkeep, governance, and rollback plans. Inspiration is plentiful. Operational steering just isn’t.

In 2026, that imbalance issues.

Time away is now not impartial

4 days at HIMSS isn’t simply 4 days out of the workplace—it’s 4 days of deferred selections, delayed approvals, and unanswered questions.

In a world of fixed system stress, staffing shortages, and clinician burnout, time away carries an actual operational price. Leaders are more and more asking whether or not that price is justified when comparable insights may be gained by:

• Smaller govt boards
• Peer networks
• Targeted vendor briefings
• Curated, closed-door discussions

Skipping HIMSS isn’t a rejection—it’s a recalibration

Not attending HIMSS now not alerts disengagement.

For a lot of, it alerts self-discipline.

It says: I do know what HIMSS provides. I’ve been there. I’ve benefited from it. However this 12 months, my group wants depth over breadth, execution over publicity, and outcomes over inspiration.

That’s not cynicism. That’s management.

A closing notice—earlier than the emails arrive

HIMSS26 will probably be proper for some leaders. It’ll nonetheless ship worth for particular targets, roles, and moments in a company’s lifecycle.

However it ought to now not be handled as necessary.

Generally essentially the most strategic determination a well being IT chief could make isn’t exhibiting as much as the most important occasion within the room—it’s understanding when much less is definitely extra.