HIMSS sells annual conference to Informa

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society said Tuesday it sold its annual exhibition and conference event to Informa, a London-based events and digital services company.

Informa first announced its intent to acquire the HIMSS conference last Thursday.

Hal Wolf, president and CEO of HIMSS, declined to provide specific financial terms of the deal. Wolf said around 30 HIMSS employees, mostly in logistics and operations, will move to Informa.

Informa is taking over operations, sales and marketing of the annual event, which has attracted more than 40,000 attendees in previous years. According to Wolf, HIMSS will continue to take the lead on the show’s content.

HIMSS, an industry group that represents health tech professionals and organizations, will also continue to run operations of its member chapters, smaller events and other initiatives. The organization will retain between 240 and 250 employees after the transition is complete, said Wolf, who is staying on board at HIMSS. 

“So much of our focus has been going on the operational side of the conference,” Wolf said. The idea to sell the organization’s flagship show had been discussed internally for “a number of years,” he said. 

HIMSS’ most recent global conference in April 2023 drew more than 35,000 attendees. At its peak in 2019, the show attracted around 43,000 attendees.  In 2020, the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its organizers received backlash in April 2020 when HIMSS wouldn’t refund exhibitors and sponsors. Instead, it offered partial credit on their 2021 and 2022 conference participation. A group of exhibitors subsequently petitioned HIMSS for their money back and received a $2.8 million settlement.

The organization hosted its first national convention in 1962 in Baltimore.

The 2024 conference is scheduled for March 11-15 in Orlando. Competing industry events for health technology have popped up in the last few years, including the HLTH and ViVE conferences.

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