HIMSS 2026: Landed in Vegas and the Energy is Unreal

✈️ Touched Down in Vegas

Landed this afternoon on a flight from DFW to Las Vegas to join the biggest healthcare technology event of the year. HIMSS 2026 runs March 9–12 at the Venetian Convention & Expo Center, and this year the entire conference is consolidated under one roof. Over 25,000 health leaders registered and 600+ education sessions lined up across AI, cybersecurity, interoperability, and digital health innovation.

This is my second time attending HIMSS. But this year? It hits different. After working in healthcare for two years, I finally feel like I speak the language. I know the pain points, the workflows, the nuances. I'm not just an observer anymore. I'm part of this world.

🏫 Executive Summit: AI ROI Takes Center Stage

The day kicked off with the Executive Summit, where HIMSS CEO Hal Wolf and AdventHealth CEO David Banks challenged the industry head-on. The core message was clear: healthcare has the technology and the investment dollars flowing in, but the ROI isn't always showing up. The conversation has shifted from “should we adopt AI?” to “where's the measurable value?”

AdventHealth's $60 million investment in AI-assisted virtual care across 13,000+ inpatient and ED beds was one of the standout examples discussed. Wolf also highlighted massive workforce shortages in allied health professions and how digital health solutions are becoming essential to bridge that gap.

🔥 Hottest Themes on the Floor

Walking through the halls and sitting in sessions, a few dominant themes kept surfacing everywhere. This year's HIMSS is clearly the “Agentic AI” conference. The market has shifted toward autonomous systems that can independently execute clinical workflows, filter alarms, and govern themselves within enterprise architecture. Ambient clinical AI is also huge, with systems that record, summarize, and auto-code patient visits with minimal human intervention.

Cybersecurity remains a massive focal point too. With the Change Healthcare breach still fresh in everyone's mind, there were multiple sessions on ransomware defense, supply-chain security, and AI-driven threat detection.

💻 Expo Floor & Specialty Pavilions

The expo floor is absolutely massive. This year HIMSS introduced “The Park,” a brand-new themed area in Venetian Expo Hall G. It brings together new exhibitors, live demos, and unique networking zones all in one centralized space. The Emerge Experience is also back, connecting investors with healthcare startups through live pitch sessions.

🎉 First-Timers Event (Yes, Again!)

Here's the thing. Even though this is my second HIMSS, I went ahead and attended the First-Timers event. Why? Because it's genuinely fun. Great giveaways, good vibes, and I almost won a prize. Missed it by just ONE number. So close!

More importantly, the connections there were gold. I ended up networking with CEOs, founders, and AI engineers. That's the beauty of these events: you never know who you'll end up in a conversation with.

📑 Preconference Forums

Monday is all about the preconference forums, which are deep-dive, full-day sessions focused on specific topics. The Interoperability and HIE Forum stood out, exploring the latest on TEFCA (Trusted Exchange Framework & Common Agreement), data governance, and the ONC's priorities for health information exchange. Other forums covered AI governance, clinical decision support, and practical strategies for digital transformation at scale.

📚 Book Pickup: LLMs for Healthcare

Most of you know I'm a huge fan of books, especially when they sit at the intersection of AI and healthcare. Today I picked up “Large Language Models (LLMs) for Healthcare: A Practical Guide to Their Process and Evaluation” by Jeremy Harper, published by Productivity Press / Routledge. I'm already hooked by the first few pages.

Large Language Models (LLMs) for Healthcare

By Jeremy Harper · Productivity Press / Routledge

A practical guide to their process and evaluation. Challenge accepted: finishing this in 2 weeks and sharing a full review. Stay tuned for the breakdown.

🤝 The Networking Was Next Level

Then came the main event. The biggest healthcare networking session kicked off, and I was in full mode. This time around, I know the right vocabulary, the right questions to ask, and the right problems to discuss. Two years of being in the trenches gave me a conversational edge I didn't have last year.

I had deep, meaningful conversations around AI in clinical workflows, interoperability challenges, ambient documentation, and the future of health tech. It didn't feel like small talk. It felt like collaboration waiting to happen.

🍾 Opening Reception

The day wrapped up with the official HIMSS26 Opening Reception from 5 PM to 7 PM. It was the perfect way to unwind after an information-packed day while making even more connections. The energy in the room was electric. Everyone's here because they believe technology can truly transform healthcare outcomes, and that shared conviction makes every handshake feel meaningful.

📅 My Day 1 Timeline

🚶 The Vegas Marathon (On Foot)

If you've been to HIMSS in Vegas, you know the drill. The walk between venues is no joke. My step count is already through the roof after navigating between:

Comfortable shoes are non-negotiable at HIMSS. Consider this your official PSA.

👀 What I'm Looking Forward to on Day 2

Day 2 is when the main education sessions and keynotes officially begin. I'm especially looking forward to Dr. Geeta Nayyar's opening keynote on balancing the human approach with AI innovation. Plus, more expo floor time, deeper conversations, and hopefully some hands-on demos of the agentic AI platforms everyone's buzzing about.