Leading European IT directors and senior healthcare IT executives have gathered this week at the HIMSS Europe CIO Summit in Geneva (November 20-22) to recognise the best use and adoption practices for healthcare IT in Europe. The events of the HIMSS CIO Summit can be followed in a Live Newsticker at www.healthtechwire.com/himss.

The sell-out event, organised by the Brussels-based Healthcare Information Management Systems Society Europe (HIMSS Europe), has attracted 150 leaders of healthcare IT, including Dr Zafar Chaudry, Director of Information Management and Technology at Liverpool Women's Hospital in the UK; Henning Schneider, Head of Medical IT Processes at Germany's University Clinic of Hamburg and Professor Bruno Xavier Pastor, MD, CMIO, at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona in Spain.

Event recognises top hospitals in Europe

The summit, for the first time hosted partly at a hospital (the University Hospital Geneva), was also the setting for HIMSS Europe's Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) awards. The University Hospital of Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany, was recognised for being first in Europe to achieve the top rating - Stage 7 - on the scale, indicating that it is fully digitised and paper-free.

Three European hospitals received awards for reaching EMRAM Stage 6: Azienda ULSS 18 hospital in Rovigo, Italy, Hospital Clinic I Provincial de Barcelona, Spain and Switzerland's Inselspital in Bern. 

"The HIMSS CIO Summit is a must-attend event for healthcare IT leaders - a 'club' of sorts, for those who want to transform and better their hospitals, and consequently healthcare, through the use of IT. In its third edition, the fully-booked CIO Summit has attracted 150 delegates; twice the number of its predecessor event. This is a clear indication that HIMSS is increasingly associated with helping advance best-practice healthcare through IT", says Christina Roosen, Executive Director, HIMSS Europe.

The next CIO Summit will take place at eHealth Week in Copenhagen, May 7-9, 2012, with another to follow in Mallorca, Spain, November 18-20, 2012.

About HIMSS
HIMSS is a cause-based, not-for-profit organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded 50 years ago, HIMSS and its related organizations are headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. HIMSS represents more than 38,000 individual members, of which more than two thirds work in healthcare provider, governmental and not-for-profit organizations. HIMSS also includes over 540 corporate members and more than 120 not-for-profit organizations that share our mission of transforming healthcare through the effective use of information technology and management systems. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare practices and public policy through its content expertise, professional development, research initiatives, and media vehicles designed to promote information and management systems' contributions to improving the quality, safety, access, and cost-effectiveness of patient care. To learn more about HIMSS and to find out how to join us and our members in advancing our cause.

For more information visit www.himss.org.