Starting a new job is both exciting and terrifying. You walk in the door with a wealth of information from your previous roles, industries, products, solutions, and companies, and instantly feel like a fish out of water listening to people explain things – trying to decipher if they are referring to a product, person, or place. And then there are the acronyms!!!

I started my new job as the Vertical Solutions Marketing Manager at Extreme Networks a little over a month ago and am impatiently awaiting the moment I become an expert in our solutions and the industries we deliver value to.

As perfect timing would have it, last week I attended my first HIMSS conference in Orlando, FL which allowed me to fully immerse myself into the world of healthcare information technology and accelerate my industry expertise. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is dedicated to improving healthcare in quality, safety, cost-effectiveness, and access through the best use of information technology and management systems. Through their global conference and exhibition, they bring together over 45,000 IT professionals and deliver the best educational sessions, speakers, and the latest in innovative solutions for the industry.

Lucky for me, Extreme Networks is the wired, wireless, and network analytics executive sponsor of the Intelligent Health Pavilion (IHP) at HIMSS and our booth is located in the middle of all the action. The IHP provides simulated demonstrations throughout the healthcare ecosystem so you can see the latest innovations in action – including an ICU, labor and delivery room, OR, patient room, medical clinic, and more.

In each of these rooms, Extreme Networks provides the wired and wireless network to keep all medical devices securely working together, while patients and visitors can safely and securely access the internet on their own devices through a guest portal. Our solutions deliver real-time, granular visibility and control of devices and traffic across the network, with proactive monitoring and root cause analysis prevent threats and problems due to bandwidth or application issues.  We also demonstrated our Defender for IoT, a one-of-a-kind, award-winning solution that securely deploys and enables medical devices that have limited or no embedded security capabilities without any network changes.

Some other exciting innovations demonstrated in the IHP this year were:

• Intuitive’s da Vinci® Surgical System that is transforming the field of minimally invasive surgery with solutions that reduce variability in surgery and help deliver better care
• The Medivis SurgicalAR, an augmented reality (AR) technology platform for surgical applications through the Microsoft HoloLens to improve operator understanding, confidence, and precision for every patient
• Honeywell’s Command and Control Suite that provides a single platform for BMS, fire, security, and VMS systems to mitigate risk, maintain continuity, and improve efficiency
• Remedi’s Medix Care Platform that allows patients to connect to different points of care to stay informed, educated, entertained, and engaged throughout their stay
• And more – including Borda RFID solutions, GE Healthcare, Skytron Visual Management, and UVAngel intelligent disinfection

The Intelligent Health Association (IHA), the group that provides overall management to the IHP, estimates that 11,000+ individuals came through the pavilion and experienced these technologies for themselves. If you didn’t have a chance to make it to HIMSS or the IHP, check out these videos of our healthcare experts reviewing the highlights while at the show.

Devin Akin, Director of Sales Enablement and Wireless Expert

Chuck Brooks, Healthcare Solution Architect

Scott Fincher, Senior Product Manager

David McClain, Principal Healthcare Architect

Bob Zemke, Director of Healthcare Solutions

Thanks to HIMSS19 and the IHP I returned to work with a new level of respect, admiration, and knowledge of the healthcare and IT industries. I also learned about 50 new acronyms!