Continuing the Tradition of #HITsm

Yesterday, the Health Standards blog announced that Healthcare Scene would be taking over the #HITsm Twitter chat. If you’re like me, then you’re probably a little shocked by the idea. At least I was when Chad (@ochotex) sent me an email asking me if I wanted to run the #HITsm chat. I was surprised, but excited by the opportunity to help lead a community that I love so much.

Much to Chad’s chagrin (I think), it took me a couple weeks to decide if I wanted the responsibility of taking it over. I know that organizing Twitter chats is a lot of work. It’s really amazing what Erica, Michelle, Angela and Chad have done over almost 6 years of hosting approximately 280 #HITsm chats. That’s a body of work for which they can be extremely proud. I hope that Healthcare Scene can live up to that high standard.

As I thought through this decision, I thought back to the early days of #HITsm. It was such an extraordinary time of discovery and connection for everyone involved. I’d been on Twitter for ~4 years before #HITsm was started, but I don’t think I really understood the extreme value of Twitter until the #HITsm community came together. Indeed, the community was the most powerful part of the experience and that carried over to in person meetings at conferences. It’s amazing to think through the hundreds and thousands of people that I wouldn’t have met if it weren’t for the #HITsm chat. They make so many parts of healthcare IT better.

While I still think that discovering new connections is a great part of #HITsm, I also think it’s time to think about how to grow it beyond just discovering new and fascinating people and companies. What that will be, I don’t yet know. What I do know is that connecting deeply with smart, passionate people is a recipe for amazing results. Healthcare needs this kind of deep connection and collaboration and I think #HITsm is one platform that can help make that a reality.

My plan for #HITsm is to involve as many people as possible as I carry on the tradition that has already been laid. I’ve reached out to a number of community members who will help me curate topics and hosts for the chat and we’ll need the support of hundreds more as we work to take #HITsm to the next level. Plus, if you’re passionate about a topic we should be discussing on #HITsm or have other ideas on how to make the community better, let us know on our contact us page or on Twitter (@techguy or @healthcarescene). We’re open to new ideas and we’re not afraid to experiment with something new that could benefit the community.

With that in mind, the first #HITsm chat that will be hosted by Healthcare Scene will be on December 2nd and we’re going to explore the question “What’s next for #HITsm?” We hope you will all attend the chat and share your thoughts on how the #HITsm chat can provide more value to the community. If you’ve never participated in the #HITsm chat before, all you have to do is watch and tweet your thoughts using the #HITsm hashtag on Twitter every Friday at Noon ET (9 AM PT).

Here’s the full schedule of #HITsm chats through the end of the year:
11/18 – #HITsm Chat by Health Standards
Hosted by Chad Johnson (@OchoTex) and @HealthStandards

11/25 – No Chat – Happy Thanksgiving!

12/2 – What’s Next for #HITSM?
Hosted by John Lynn (@techguy) from Healthcare Scene

12/9 – Innovation in Customer Experience and Digital Health
Hosted by Steve Sisko (@ShimCode) from ShimCode.com

12/16 – Reputation Management
Hosted by Erika Johansen (@thegr8chalupa) from Splash Media

12/23 – No Chat – Happy Holidays!

12/30 – No Chat – Happy New Year!

We’ll be working over the next couple weeks and months to create a permanent home on the Healthcare Scene network for the #HITsm community. Give us a little time to get it all together and then we’ll do our best to continue to make it better over time.

We’re excited to be part of #HITsm and look forward to shepherding it as we enter the next phase of its evolution!

About the author

John Lynn

John Lynn is the Founder of HealthcareScene.com, a network of leading Healthcare IT resources. The flagship blog, Healthcare IT Today, contains over 13,000 articles with over half of the articles written by John. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 20 million times.

John manages Healthcare IT Central, the leading career Health IT job board. He also organizes the first of its kind conference and community focused on healthcare marketing, Healthcare and IT Marketing Conference, and a healthcare IT conference, EXPO.health, focused on practical healthcare IT innovation. John is an advisor to multiple healthcare IT companies. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can be found on Twitter: @techguy.

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