Sue Feldman, R.N., Ph.D., director of the UAB Graduate Programs in Healthcare Informatics, is 1 of only 4 subject matter experts selected by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) for the HIMSS21 health and safety panel. Feldman and her fellow panelists will help guide policies and decisions to ensure the safety of the more than 40,000 people estimated to attend the 2021 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition in person.
"The current environment has prompted HIMSS to pursue comprehensive health and safety measures at HIMSS21," officials said in a statement. “As a part of this approach, HIMSS has been working with a diverse panel of external resources to focus on guiding HIMSS21 procedures, in addition to assisting with a return-to-work strategy."
“The safety of tens of thousands of attendees at HIMSS21 is a tremendous responsibility and they found the perfect person for the task in Sue,” said Christy Harris Lemak, Ph.D., chair Department of Health Services Administration. “Her experience leading UAB's GuideSafe™ platform along with her thoroughness are assets to further strengthen this panel.”
“Because HIMSS is such an effective network of academicians, practitioners, vendors, students, and others, the panel had to consider how the HIMSS experience is different for each and how to ensure those experiences remained intact,” said Feldman, who recently received the HIMSS Changemaker in Health award. “My perspective is simple: we will not please everyone and we cannot have it all. At the core it is about balancing experience with risk.”
Joining Feldman on the HIMSS Health and Safety panel are:
- Justin T. Collier, M.D., Chief Healthcare Advisor, World Wide Technology
- Eric Quiñones, M.D., Chief Healthcare Advisor, World Wide Technology
- Tony Rose, Founder and CEO, Proof Market
With the panel’s help, HIMSS21 created a Health and Safety Hub for the latest guidance for attendees. This year’s event is August 9-13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
