Jan 14
2026
Why Some Health IT Leaders Should Skip HIMSS26 (Even if they’ve loved HIMSS in the past)
I’ve walked the exhibit floor until my feet hurt, sat in packed sessions scribbling notes, ducked into impromptu hallway meetings that turned into meaningful conversations, and felt that familiar rush that comes from being surrounded by thousands of people who believe—earnestly—that technology can still fix healthcare.
HIMSS is amazing.
It’s big. It’s energizing. It’s unlike anything else in health IT.
And that’s exactly the problem.
For a growing number of health IT leaders, HIMSS has quietly crossed a line—from valuable immersion to overwhelming excess. Not because the conference has failed, but because the realities of healthcare IT leadership have changed faster than the conference model itself.
The scale that once inspired now exhausts
There was a time when the sheer size of HIMSS felt necessary. Healthcare IT was fragmented. Leaders needed a single place to see everything at once, vendors, standards bodies, policymakers, peers, futurists, all under one roof.
Today, that same scale can feel paralyzing.
The exhibit hall alone is an exercise in cognitive overload. Hundreds of vendors, many offering overlapping solutions, each promising transformation. Sessions compete for attention, often scheduled simultaneously, forcing leaders to choose between equally relevant (or equally vague) discussions.
Instead of clarity, many leaders leave with:
- More business cards than insights
- More ideas than execution capacity
- More follow-ups than time
In an industry already drowning in complexity, “everything at once” is no longer a feature—it’s friction.
The cost conversation has become unavoidable
Health IT leaders are being scrutinized in ways they weren’t even five years ago. Every trip, every conference, every line item now carries weight.
HIMSS isn’t just a registration fee. It’s airfare, hotels at premium pricing, meals, transportation, and—most expensively—time away from systems that do not pause because a CIO is in Las Vegas.
For leaders who are:
- Under pressure to control spend
- Managing leaner teams
- Answering directly for outcomes
The question isn’t whether HIMSS is “worth it” in theory. It’s whether it delivers measurable, defensible value relative to smaller, more targeted alternatives.
Increasingly, that answer isn’t automatic.
The content problem isn’t quality—it’s distance from reality
HIMSS sessions are polished. Thoughtful. Often well-produced.
But many health IT leaders don’t struggle with vision. They struggle with execution.
They know AI is coming. They know interoperability matters. They know cybersecurity threats are escalating. What they need help with are the unglamorous questions:
- How do we integrate this without breaking workflows?
- How do we unwind a bad vendor decision?
- How do we get clinicians to trust the system again?
- How do we govern data when no one agrees who owns it?
Those conversations are harder to stage on a massive platform. They don’t lend themselves to tidy panels or sponsor-friendly narratives. As a result, the content can feel increasingly disconnected from the messiness leaders are living every day.
Vendor optimism vs. operator reality
HIMSS is, by necessity, vendor-forward. That doesn’t make it illegitimate—but it does shape the experience.
The show floor is designed to highlight what’s possible, not what’s painful. Failure stories are rare. Long-term consequences are softened. Complexity is abstracted.
For leaders who spend their days dealing with:
- Implementation overruns
- Contract fatigue
- Integration debt
- Post-go-live regret
The disconnect can be jarring. The optimism doesn’t always feel dishonest—but it often feels incomplete.
AI has moved from excitement to fatigue
AI will dominate HIMSS26. That’s not speculation—it’s certainty.
But many health IT leaders have moved past excitement into discernment. They aren’t asking what AI can do. They’re asking where it breaks, who owns the risk, and how they’ll be held accountable when it fails.
HIMSS excels at showcasing possibility. It struggles to dwell in maintenance, governance, and rollback plans. Inspiration is plentiful. Operational guidance is not.
In 2026, that imbalance matters.
Time away is no longer neutral
Four days at HIMSS isn’t just four days out of the office—it’s four days of deferred decisions, delayed approvals, and unanswered questions.
In a world of constant system pressure, staffing shortages, and clinician burnout, time away carries a real operational cost. Leaders are increasingly asking whether that cost is justified when similar insights can be gained through:
- Smaller executive forums
- Peer networks
- Focused vendor briefings
- Curated, closed-door discussions
Skipping HIMSS isn’t a rejection—it’s a recalibration
Not attending HIMSS no longer signals disengagement.
For many, it signals discipline.
It says: I know what HIMSS offers. I’ve been there. I’ve benefited from it. But this year, my organization needs depth over breadth, execution over exposure, and outcomes over inspiration.
That’s not cynicism. That’s leadership.
A final note—before the emails arrive
HIMSS26 will be right for some leaders. It will still deliver value for specific goals, roles, and moments in an organization’s lifecycle.
But it should no longer be treated as mandatory.
Sometimes the most strategic decision a health IT leader can make isn’t showing up to the biggest event in the room—it’s knowing when less is actually more.
