Each year, the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition (HIMSS) brings together healthcare leaders to explore technologies, partnerships, and policies shaping the future of digital health. At this year’s conference, the shift from discussing digital transformation to demonstrating measurable value stood out.
In addition to featuring support puppies AND kittens, which were both a hit, two HIMSS26 sessions showcased how healthcare organizations are turning interoperability and digital engagement into real results for patients, families, and care teams.
Digital Engagement Delivers Measurable Outcomes
One standout HIMSS26 session highlighted how health systems can use digital engagement to improve care experiences and outcomes.
In the education session, “Creating a Digital Family Engagement Platform that Demonstrates Value,” Dr. Kimberly Cronsell, acting CMIO for Children’s Wisconsin, joined Aaron Sheedy, co-founder and COO of Xealth, to share how the pediatric health system built a digital Family Health Engagement Platform designed to deliver personalized, data-driven education to families.
The initiative began with a deep analysis of the family care journey, mapping both pain points and positive moments. That work helped Children’s Wisconsin identify where digital education could improve understanding, strengthen relationships with care teams, and ensure families receive the right information at the right time.
Using Xealth’s digital care platform integrated into the EHR, care teams at the system deliver trusted educational content directly to families via text, email, patient portal, or the health system’s mobile app. The system also tracks engagement, giving clinicians visibility into which materials patients actually use and when.
The results demonstrate the power of targeted digital engagement:
- Period of PURPLE Crying education: 99% of families engaging with the digital education avoided urgent care, emergency department (ED) visits, or inpatient care related to shaken baby syndrome or head trauma.
- Type 1 diabetes education: Families engaging with the program saw 100% avoidance of ED, urgent care, and inpatient visits tied to acute complications.
- MRI preparation: Digital education improved patient readiness by 42%, meaning more MRIs occurred as scheduled with fewer reschedules due to patients and their families arriving unprepared.
- NICU education: Care teams send the most appropriate information at the time of care, spacing the content out to ensure families can consume the information on their own time. Engagement rates reached 60% among families receiving resources.
- Language accessibility: Spanish-language materials saw even higher engagement rates than content in English across use cases.
Beyond clinical outcomes, the platform also improves operational efficiency by automating education delivery. This saves time for staff and adds transparency.
As Sheedy noted during the session, success in digital engagement isn’t just about reaching patients who already interact with digital tools.
“Engaging with the unengaged is just as important as engaging those already participating,” he said.
Moving Toward “Kill the Clipboard”
Another impactfuldemonstration at HIMSS26 revolved around the federal “Kill the Clipboard” initiative, led by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. This effort aims to modernize healthcare by eliminating repetitive forms and giving patients direct control of their medical data.
During the session, Dr. Ricky Choi, head of digital health at Samsung Electronics America, and b.well Chief Product Officer Sara Zywicki emphasized why interoperability remains such a critical priority for healthcare. Despite years of progress, many practices still rely on traditional paper forms and manual processes. At the same time, research shows that patients forget roughly half of the medical information shared with them during visits, while administrative paperwork continues to consume valuable staff time.
Samsung and b.well Connected Health unveiled the first live, end-to-end “Kill the Clipboard” experience aligned with the federal interoperability initiative. Attendees saw how a patient using a Samsung Galaxy device could securely access their complete health history, understand it through conversational AI, and instantly share verified records with providers — eliminating repetitive paperwork and disconnected portals that frustrate both patients and clinicians.
The live demo illustrated interoperability beyond a regulatory requirement and gave attendees a chance to see it as an enabler of practical, simplified patient experiences that reduce friction across the care journey.
The Road Ahead for Digital Health
HIMSS26 reinforced that we are in an exciting time for healthcare, as the industry moves from digital experimentation to scalable, outcome-driven innovation.
Interoperability and digital initiatives like “Kill the Clipboard” are simplifying how health data moves between patients and providers. At the same time, digital engagement platforms are turning that connected data into meaningful experiences that educate families, improve adherence, and reduce unnecessary acute care utilization.
The future of healthcare engagement is about delivering measurable value by connecting care and resources – and it was exciting to see this momentum firsthand at HIMSS26!