October 15, 2007 (Chicago)—HIMSS is pleased to introduce the History of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (Formerly Hospital Management Systems Society), prepared by the HIMSS Legacy Workgroup.
In summer 2006, George Hickman, FHIMSS, then HIMSS board chair, recommended the creation of a Legacy Workgroup. This group of Lifetime Members was developed as a component of the Fellows Council because the Fellows represented the more senior members of the Society. More specifically, the Lifetime Members would be able to tell the legacy of HIMSS since its formation in the late 1950s, its inception as the Hospital Management Systems Society (HMSS) in 1961, and its affiliation with the American Hospital Association as a personal member group in 1966.
The Legacy Workgroup was given the charter for documenting the Society’s colorful history from its very roots of fewer than 50 members representing practicing hospital management engineers, hospital administrators, consultants, and academicians to the current diversity of members. The objective of this endeavor was to provide the anchor for a work-in-progress history. It is expected that the work done by the Legacy Workgroup will be amended each year as new information about the Society’s activities, and achievements are developed. The goal is to provide a more contemporary history for HIMSS members and future generations of members with an understanding as to how and why the Society began and how it evolved. The Legacy Workgroup wants this documented history to serve as a way to pass along the saga of the history of HMSS/HIMSS, from inception to current time and beyond.
The foundation of the Legacy Workgroup’s activity was a document that had been prepared by past Society Director, Richard P. Covert, PhD. Over the years, Dr. Covert meticulously extracted information from published Society newsletters. This document was annually updated and appeared in the annual membership directory; the last directory published was for the year 2000-2001. The Legacy Workgroup supplemented Dr. Covert’s work by adding and clarifying information, with sources such as personal experience (from those who lived the history) and historical documents.
As noted above, those who contributed to this effort lived the HMSS/HIMSS history, particularly for the period of the Society’s genesis through 1993. It is the hope of the authors that this is the first stage of a work-in-progress and that the same degree of exuberance will be demonstrated by the more contemporary members to continue documenting the HMSS/HIMSS Legacy. To this end, the document will be updated annually.
