March 17, 2016 | The Medical Informatics World Conference returns to the Boston Seaport this year, April 4-5, running just before Bio-IT World and featuring a host of excellent speakers and presentations.

The conference keynotes are outstanding. Nicholas Marko of Geisinger Health System moves past the EHR. Adrienne Boissy, editor of the Journal of Patient Experience, talks technology and the patient experience. Jason Burke, UNC Health Care and School of Medicine, pushes the envelope with health systems that learn. And finally, John Halamka, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, deconstructs this landmark time for interoperability.

The four tracks are equally rich. Here are some of the sessions we have flagged.

The Editors

Evon Holladay, from Denver University and formerly of Catholic Health Initiatives, challenges us to look at health assets across the community. Community leaders from healthcare, civic and businesses are coming together to map health care and health maintenance, and the effort will enable leaders to answer tough questions about health insurance access and chronic disease management. Monday, April 4, 2:10 pm

David Muntz, GetWellNetwork, will use his experiences in the private and public sector to discuss how to change the way we think and talk about partnering with patients and families. Patient centered care is not enough. Too often, we talk about the patient, but most of our efforts are really directed at providers. Muntz plans to offer a wide range of real world practical tools for transforming an organization’s mind set and culture to improve outcomes for patients and families. Monday, April 4, 11:00 am

Health care is truly entering the Age of the Consumer. Using data from national consumer health care surveys, Robin Gelburd, FAIR Health, will share insights into how consumers choose health plans, select doctors, manage benefits, and choose venues for healthcare services, and explain how medical practices, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, and health plans can design effective strategies to inform consumer engagement and decision-making. Tuesday, April 5, 8:45 am

A co-presentation from Emil Chiauzzi, PatientsLikeMe, and Mikele Bunce, Genentech, will report on the two companies’ 4,000+ patient study on the factors associated with patient empowerment and engagement in healthcare for patients with serious and chronic medical conditions. Tuesday, April 5, 11:00 am.

A Tuesday afternoon panel will further dig into the psychology of patient engagement. Eric Glazer, Society for Participatory Medicine, will lead an interactive discussion on approaches various organizations are taking, challenge traditional thinking and explore the potential impact you can make when properly combining great technology and psychology. The panel will take on questions including: Why are most predictive models not as effective as they need to be? Which approaches have you deployed to better leverage the motivation of your patients? How are organizations taking lifestyle variables into consideration when measuring risk? How long do patient engagement programs typically stay impactful? and What are the different ways you are you measuring patient engagement? Tuesday, April 5, 2:00 pm

John Minichiello, Steward Health Care Network, will share experience from the provider’s side in managing high risk populations, beginning with the initial risk stratification, to enrolling patients in care management programs, then ultimately measuring an ROI, including both metrics on staff processes and patient use. Monday, April 4, 2:10 pm

Nationwide Children’s Hospital has achieved success with a capitated pediatric population through integrated care coordination. Kimberly Conkol will present the informatics and tools Partners for Kids (PFK), a physician hospital organization and an affiliate of NCH that holds the financial risk for 330,000 Medicaid children in Ohio, used to achieve improved costs, experience and health. Tuesday, April 5, 1:00