President Donald Trump set to speak at HIMSS20

President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at HIMSS20 on Monday, March 9, HIMSS confirmed today.

Trump’s speech will touch on various aspects of interoperability, innovation and digital health. If past HIMSS conferences are any indication, his appearance may also be timed with the long-awaited final rules on information blocking and patient access from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.

Another probable topic of discussion will be an update on the Trump Administration’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

HIMSS offered its own update Monday, noting that it has “assembled an external panel of medical professionals to further advise our evidence-based decision-making and to ensure the safety of the healthcare community currently planning to assemble in Florida for HIMSS20.”

Other former U.S. presidents have spoken at HIMSS, which each year attracts some 40,000 attendees from around the world. Bill Clinton spoke in New Orleans in 2013, and George W. Bush addressed the crowd in Chicago in 2015.

But Trump’s appearance will be the first time a sitting president has appeared at the event. His HIMSS20 speech is currently scheduled for Monday, March 9, at 4 p.m. in the Valencia Ballroom of the Orange County Convention Center.