"The patient will see you now." Connected Healthcare | HIMSS 2023

As an educator and tech strategist, I have the privilege of working with many of the world’s leading technology companies. AT&T Business, the sponsor of this post, is one. The opinions expressed in this post may or may not reflect the views of any company I work with. My goal is to make technology more accessible and beneficial for all.

Having served on the board of directors of a university hospital for eight years, I was excited at the opportunity to join AT&T Business at the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition, in Chicago. The conference is considered to be the most influential healthcare technology event of the year. This year's conference attracted over 35,500 attendees, each showing incredible advancements in connected healthcare.

This year's HIMSS' theme, "Health that Connects + Tech that Cares", provided the perfect springboard for AT&T Business to showcase its robust role in connecting healthcare to patients and providers.

What's AT&T Business doing at a Health Tech conference?

For those wondering what AT&T Business might be doing at a Health Tech conference, Joe Drygas, who leads Healthcare at AT&T Business, has the answer:

AT&T Business aspires to be the "premiere connectivity provider for Healthcare", Joe explains, connecting "people anywhere to deliver care anywhere", whether that's in the hospital, a clinic, or a person's own home.

"We work with providers, payers, pharma, we work with startup companies, the entire ecosystem, to figure out how do you build the best connectivity strategy to be able to do whatever you want to do in order to provide (healthcare) anywhere," he added, noting that AT&T's depth of business experience is a distinct advantage of partnering with the company for healthcare services and solutions.

It's about an ecosystem and business experience

Joe and others from AT&T Business provided numerous presentations on how successful connected healthcare requires a reliable ecosystem and business experience, with AT&T providing both.

"The patient will see you now"

Telehealth and telemedicine change the old model of a person "having to go to a healthcare provider", explains Jeff Tzeng, DO, MPH, MBA, SVP - Health and Wellbeing, AT&T Business, who served nearly ten years as a physician with the U.S. Army. "Now, actually, the provider is with you, virtually or otherwise." He explains that medical professionals, through new connected healthcare technologies, can now care for patients when they need the care and where they need it, with AT&T 5G enhancing virtually every facet of healthcare.

Connected healthcare advances Accessibility and Health Equity

Clara Hustad, AVP of Growth Product Marketing at AT&T at HIMSS 2023, talks about the importance of ready-to-use, connected healthcare devices advancing health equity and accessibility by providing a device that is easily connected and operated when it is received by a patient in their home.

Connecting Parents to Data and Providers

AT&T's "Innovation Wall" at HIMSS celebrated numerous connected healthcare devices powered by AT&T's 5G wireless and fiber networks. AT&T's Tonya Washington, MBA, CDP shows off one device, a sturdy, connected table for a child to play games with - and also for parents to securely keep tabs on their child's healthcare data or connect via video call with their child's physician.

Connected Healthcare improves patient safety and workforce efficiencies in a hospital

A connected hospital bed? Actually, much more than that! Richa Pandey, Connected Solutions Field Practice Lead, Strategy, Innovation and Transformation Enabler at AT&T, explains that AT&T 5G and fiber connectivity are bringing incredible innovations to patient care that are enhancing patient safety and patient outcomes. An AI-embedded device next to a patient's bed has the ability to automatically monitor a patient's movements in near real-time to provide staff alerts to prevent falls. Voice recognition can also be used to automatically transcribe doctor's notes bedside when doctors make their rounds. Connectivity is the foundation of these innovations.

AT&T really means healthcare "anywhere"

A wearable defibrillator?! Precisely. For people who are at a high cardiac risk, a wearable defibrillator gives them the freedom of movement, while AT&T 5G gives them the peace of mind to know that their vitals are being monitored in near real-time, while the device they wear is ready to save their life if needed. Lee Wagner, Area Vice President for IoT, 5G and Mobile Edge at AT&T helps listeners re-imagine healthcare!

Healthcare...into the Metaverse

Innovation in healthcare includes the use of immersive technologies, such as virtual reality to provide more accessible and effective, at-home, physical therapy and pain management, as well as data visualization in the pharmaceutical industry. Clint Cetti, Global Director of Strategy and Innovation at AT&T helps an audience understand the innovative uses of virtual reality and the importance of a highly-stable, reliable, and secure communications network and partner.

AT&T Business provides "turn-key" solutions to its healthcare partners

Tad Reynes, Regional Vice President - Healthcare IOT at AT&T, at HIMSS 2023, explains how AT&T Business provides its healthcare partners with "turn-key" solutions.

We're just at the beginning

Wrapping up the week at HIMSS 2023, Joe Drygas noted that the world of connected healthcare is "just beginning". "Healthcare companies are coming to AT&T for its business experience so that they can provide new innovations in healthcare, trusting us to provide the reliable, secure, turn-key connectivity and ecosystem support." Re-imagining healthcare is a journey that will benefit us all! AT&T Business!

This post was sponsored by AT&T Business, but the opinions are my own and don’t necessarily represent AT&T Business’s positions or strategies.