Thought Leadership
ViVE and HIMSS 2025: A View from the Front Lines of Healthcare Innovation
Thought LeadershipAfter a whirlwind couple of weeks at ViVE and HIMSS 2025, one thing is clear – healthcare’s digital transformation is happening at an accelerated pace – and the impacts are real and measured.
These two industry-defining conferences brought together tens of thousands of healthcare leaders, technology innovators, decision-makers, and a record number of exhibitors to discuss the future of healthcare and showcase the advancements shaping the industry. From thought-provoking keynotes to hands-on technology demonstrations, this year’s discussions went beyond the hype, focusing on real-world solutions that are making an impact today.
Here are the biggest takeaways from ViVE and HIMSS.
AI: Moving Beyond the Hype to Tangible ROI
AI dominated conversations at both events, but the dialogue has evolved significantly since last year. The focus has shifted from theoretical possibilities to practical applications of AI in healthcare that are delivering measurable ROI for hospitals and health systems. A preconference forum at HIMSS explored the foundational elements of AI success, emphasizing that technology alone isn’t the solution, it must be integrated strategically with people, processes, and organizational goals. It requires clear alignment with business objectives to achieve enterprise-wide value.
Pragmatic AI-powered solutions, such as Clarity, optimize processes and strengthen referral workflows, directly impacting health system revenue and improving patient outcomes. Clarity’s intelligent data extraction seamlessly transforms unstructured documents— faxes, PDFs, scans, and handwritten text—into useful and actionable data. The extracted data can then be automatically applied to structured data fields in the receiving system, with minimal impact on existing workflows, and ensuring data integrity through a single source of truth.
Cloud-Based Fax: Reinventing a Healthcare Staple
Fax continues to be an essential communication tool in healthcare, even with the increasing availability of modern data exchange options. However, the days of on-premise fax solutions are numbered. More and more hospitals are recognizing the benefits of migrating to 100% cloud-based fax solutions. This transition is driven by the need for increased security, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, demonstrating that established technologies can adapt and remain relevant in the digital age.
At the same time, rising cybersecurity threats and data breaches have made security a top priority for healthcare organizations. With health systems facing the risk of devastating system failures, they need a dependable, low-barrier solution that works seamlessly across all care settings, regardless of their existing technology infrastructure. Cloud fax provides exactly that, ensuring care continuity and security in an increasingly digital and interconnected healthcare environment.
At HIMSS, we had the pleasure of hosting the CIO of a leading Georgia health system, who shared his positive experience with eFax® and the team at Consensus. The seamless implementation, scalability, enhanced care coordination, streamlined workflows, and robust security and reliability of the solution were key factors in exceeding expectations and ensuring a successful transition.
For nearly 30 years, Consensus’ leading cloud fax platform, eFax, has continuously evolved to meet the changing needs of our customers. Known for its robust security measures and optional product offerings (eFax Protect, eFax Corporate®, ECFax®) designed to ensure compliance with regulations and standards like HIPAA, HITRUST, and FedRAMP®, it remains a trusted solution for healthcare. eFax’s longevity and continued innovation are a testament to the industry’s ongoing reliance on digital fax for secure and reliable data exchange.
True Interoperability Remains a Crucial and Complex Goal for the Healthcare Industry
Healthcare interoperability remains a critical focus, with ongoing efforts to break down data silos and create a truly connected healthcare ecosystem. A preconference forum touted the benefits of TEFCA and the use of FHIR and API-driven solutions. While this connectivity standard attempts to gain traction, many smaller and rural providers still struggle with implementation due to resource constraints.
That’s why we are strong advocates for solutions that bridge the gap between legacy systems and modern technologies. eFax paired with advanced document management and integration tools like eFax Unite, closes the divide for healthcare providers who still rely heavily on fax but want to begin transitioning to more efficient, digital methods for integrating with EHRs. This solution optimizes processes today that require significant data entry and chart integration. eFax Unite centralizes patient data in one inbox, allowing users to triage faxes, index documents to resident charts, and exchange structured data with EHRs. Its data-at-a-glance view enhances administrative decision-making while integrating faxing, e-signature, Direct Secure Messaging, and patient query to create a unified, efficient communication hub.
Beyond the Technology: The Human Element
While technology is a powerful enabler, it’s essential to remember that healthcare is fundamentally about people. HIMSS and ViVE also emphasized the importance of health equity. We must ensure that the benefits of technology are accessible to all, regardless of the socioeconomic status of patients or geographic location. This requires a concerted effort to bridge the digital divide and address the unique needs of underserved communities.
Furthermore, the human element in healthcare includes the overburdened clinical staff. This was evident with the numerous AI use cases that were on display at ViVE and HIMSS. Technology can be leveraged to strengthen the clinical team’s capabilities, supporting better and faster clinical care. Fostering a collaborative environment where technology and human expertise complement each other is essential for delivering optimal patient care, and this was exemplified in the exhibitor booths at both shows.
Learn more about Consensus’ suite of solutions tailored to support healthcare organizations.
