Where hype meets strategy, the HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum brings clarity, credibility, and collaboration to the evolving landscape of AI in medicine.
By Gil Bashe, Health Tech World Correspondent, Medika Life Editor-in-Chief and Chair Global Health and Purpose, FINN Partners
The conversation about artificial intelligence in health has become crowded with bold claims, hype-driven headlines, breathless predictions and plenty of hand-wringing.
But amid that noise, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) offers something much more valuable: clarity.
HIMSS has long served as a convener of conversations that matter in the global health information space.
Still, with the upcoming AI in Healthcare Forum in New York City, it steps confidently into the role of catalyst, advancing practical strategies to make AI work within the patient, payer, provider and policy ecosystem.
Slated for July 10–11 at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, the HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum is doing what is needed by bringing together leaders across the health spectrum.
The two-day event is the third chapter in a national series designed to discuss AI’s promise and confront its practical, ethical, and operational realities.
In an era when health systems must navigate AI with care, HIMSS is doing its best to offer a much-needed roadmap.
“Our goal is to cut through the noise,” says Rob Havasy, Senior Director of Informatics Strategy at HIMSS, who is helping shape the event.
“We’re creating a forum that helps health executives and clinical leaders focus on realistic strategies for buying or building AI tools that truly improve care.”
Gil Bashe (right) talks with Rob Havasy (left), about the upcoming HIMSS Healthcare AI Forum
The Forum agenda is ambitious and necessary.
This event delivers substance over speculation with sessions ranging from data governance and workforce readiness to AI procurement and clinical validation.
At a time when organisations feel pressure to “do something” with AI, HIMSS is urging them to step forward wisely.
One of the keynotes will be delivered by Tom Lawry, Managing Director at Second Century Tech and author of “Hacking Healthcare” and his surprising new book, “Health Care Nation,” a manifesto for the future.
A longtime voice at the intersection of AI and health policy, Lawry will speak to moving from FOMO to foresight.
His message is clear: “De-risk AI investments. Drive measurable value. Scale intelligent tech across the enterprise.”
Equally anticipated is the keynote from Dr. Ethan Goh, Executive Director of Stanford ARISE and a physician-scientist who has worked with Google, Roche, and OpenAI.
Goh’s talk will explore how AI tools can be validated and integrated for clinical use.
“This is where innovation meets patient impact,” he notes—a perspective that cuts to the heart of why AI must be approached with urgency and caution.
Beyond the headline speakers, the Forum offers hands-on sessions and executive roundtables.
A pre-forum dinner for provider leaders will delve into the critical elements of AI leadership strategy and ethics. The entire experience is designed to equip attendees not just with ideas, but with actionable frameworks.
“At HIMSS, we’re not just talking about AI,” says Havasy.
“We’re enabling governments, providers, and innovators to understand where interoperability and trust must evolve so AI can truly transform care.”
Havasy notes that planned lunches and brainstorm sessions are part of the planning to ensure attendees can elevate their composite knowledge on what’s ahead.
HIMSS has long distinguished itself in playing that enabling role.
Through its conferences, policy advocacy, and media platforms like HIMSS TV, the organisation has built a reputation for convening diverse voices and surfacing evidence-based approaches.
In AI, that reputation matters more than ever.
Healthcare leaders face enormous challenges—balancing innovation with privacy, integrating new tools into old systems, and developing a workforce ready to work alongside algorithms.
HIMSS recognises that AI is not a bolt-on technology; it requires rethinking systems, incentives, and culture.
That is what this Forum is about: the transformation beneath the transformation.
The venue—New York City—is symbolic.
A hub of global finance, policy, and innovation, it mirrors HIMSS’s ambition to bring the health AI conversation to the nation’s decision-making doorstep.
And the timing is just right.
As health systems prepare for strategic planning in the second half of the year, the Forum provides a timely touchpoint to assess where they are and where they must go.
Why attend?
In speaking with Havasy and his team, it’s evident this is not another buzzword-laden event. It is an invitation to pause, assess, and align, move from speculation to strategy, and ensure that AI works and works in the service of people.
“This isn’t about being first—it’s about being right,” Havasy says.
“We must build AI strategies grounded in trust, interoperability, and real-world impact.”
In that spirit, the HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum stands apart.
It doesn’t promise easy answers, but it does promise the right questions—and a community committed to answering them together.
Health Tech World will be onsite.
