Don't miss our networking party and mobile healthcare breakfast at HIMSS10

As anyone who's been paying even scant attention to health IT knows, next week is the annual HIMSS conference in Atlanta. (If you're a subscriber to FierceHealthIT, FierceEMR, FierceMobileHealthcare or FierceHealthcare, you should be receiving the special HIMSS preview issue today.)

I, of course, will be there, along with colleagues Dan Bowman and Wendy Johnson, to keep you in the know with coverage in FierceHealthIT, FierceEMR and FierceMobileHealthcare. We'll also be making use of our new Twitter feed, @fiercehealthit and our brand-spanking-new Facebook page. (If you're on Facebook, become a fan.)

You can meet all of us Tuesday night 7:30 p.m. at MixIt!, our free networking party at the World of Coca-Cola.

Tuesday morning at 7 a.m., FierceMobileHealthcare is joining with sister publication FierceWireless to invite you to "Creating a Successful mHealth Initiative," an exclusive executive breakfast sponsored by Meru Networks, at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel. FierceWireless Editor-in-Chief Sue Marek will sit down with top healthcare and telecom industry executives to discuss the latest developments in mobile healthcare.

Our guest speakers include: Geoffrey Brown, senior VP and CIO of Inova Health System, Falls Church, Va.; Deborah Gash, VP & CIO of Saint Luke's Health System, Kansas City, Mo.; Chris Gray, industry solutions manager for healthcare at wireless carrier Sprint Nextel; and Ram Appalaraju, senior VP for marketing at Meru Networks.

Marek will lead the panel in a discussion of key issues in mobile healthcare, including the pros and cons of incorporating mobile into the healthcare industry, ways to overcome some of the challenges and the lessons learned from early adopters of m-health. The unique format of this event will provide attendees with a chance to hear what top industry executives really have to say in an uncensored environment. If you're going to HIMSS, you won't find a better opportunity to get up close and personal with so many leaders in the hottest, most innovative segment of health IT today.

The registration fee includes a full breakfast and transportation back to the Georgia World Congress Center.

I'd be remiss if I didn't offer some shameless self-promotion here. Over on my personal blog, I've posted a 35-minute podcast interview with HIMSS CEO Steve Lieber to help get you ready for HIMSS10 next week. I excerpted from the interview in the HIMSS preview issue and in FierceMobileHealthcare this week, but Lieber had plenty more to say on the state of the health IT industry.

Enjoy the podcast, and I hope to meet many of you down in Atlanta. - Neil