A Review of the 2022 International Summit

On June 7–8, 2022, KLAS hosted our International Summit in Portugal and brought together healthcare IT leaders from at least 15 countries across Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. KLAS values the quality of people over the quantity of people attending our summits, and this year’s attendees did not disappoint—they collectively shared their experiences, sought advice, and had important conversations that are otherwise difficult to make time for.  

A Myriad of Meaningful Discussions

Going into the summit, we wanted to define actionable ways to improve EHR usability and clinicians’ EHR experience, and we feel like we accomplished that goal. Healthcare experts Aaron Jones (Sydney Local Health District), Augustine Amusu (Mediclinic Middle East), Sonia Patel (NHS England), and Tamara Sunbul (Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare) gave keynote presentations about their experiences with the Arch Collaborative. They shared how they will use the data from the Arch Collaborative to optimize their EHRs for their clinicians, and their presentations were fantastic.

Additionally, attendees provided excellent insights during tabletop discussions. These discussions were facilitated among smaller groups composed of providers, vendors, and other stakeholders, giving everyone the chance to participate. Attendees were eager to offer their insights and address tough questions around AI in healthcare, patient engagement, imaging security, and healthcare IT investments.

We are planning to publish a white paper in late summer that will summarize the findings and outcomes from this summit. Be sure to check out the paper once it publishes on the KLAS report page on our website. 

The Summit Takeaways

We at KLAS hope that the summit encouraged attendees to broaden their perspectives and use what they learned from other attendees to drive success in their own organizations or companies. One of the benefits of the International Summit is hearing a vast number of perspectives from all over the globe. We wanted attendees to share new approaches with each other so they could tackle problems from a different position.

Also, we are hopeful that the summit discussions about improving clinician satisfaction will prompt both providers and vendors to refocus on enhancing the clinician experience. So much of what KLAS, providers, and vendors do can be traced back to a passion for improving patient care, yet in order to achieve that, we also must pay attention to the clinician experience. To treat patients effectively, clinicians must be set up for success, and much of that success depends on EHR usability.

While the summit itself won’t revolutionize healthcare overnight, we are hopeful that the discussions we had at the summit will promote best practices and help drive positive outcomes in healthcare. The attendees learned a lot from each other as they shared how to center patient care, support patients via technology, and achieve progress while acknowledging the strain on human resources in healthcare.

An Invitation to Seek Out & Share Solutions

KLAS intends to host our International Summit every year, and we are already making plans for the June 2023 summit, which will be held in Portugal again (further details are forthcoming).

In the meantime, providers, vendors, and other stakeholders in the healthcare industry can maintain momentum by looking for solutions or best practices outside of themselves, maybe even outside of their country. There are so many creative, innovative solutions in the world, and none of us benefits from them when we work heads down in silos. Collaborating and networking with others is invaluable, and KLAS summits are just one approach to forming those connections. If you’re a vendor or provider organization and you’re wanting to discover new solutions or spotlight a unique solution you’ve discovered, send me an email at jeremy.goff@klasresearch.com, and we at KLAS can help get the word out and connect you with others. 

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