Chicago HIMSS Conference Day 5, April 8, 2009

Today was the last day of the conference and then I fly home!  I can’t wait.  Chicago is a nice town, and I really have had a wonderful experience at this conference, but I am so ready to be back in my own bed and to see my family.

The morning started with Dr. Alan Greenspan.  Now, whether or not you believe his monetary policy got us into our current mess (I personally don’t, and have had to agree to disagree with a few of my friends on the matter) I find him exceptionally intelligent.  He didn’t do a great job of speaking directly to Healthcare IT issues, but the macroeconomics lesson was worth the listen anyway.

My day cleared up due to last minute rescheduling and that meant I had time to kill before my shuttle to the airport.  So, I took the chance for a few rounds in the hotel bar one last time.  They were nice people, despite the kinks in the hotel stay itself, and I even had the bar buy me one last round.  In the end, I would say that I’d give them another 6 months to work out some of the growing pains and expect that to be a very good hotel on the South side of Chicago in an area that in 2 years will be very upscale.

What is it about cab drivers and shuttle services that gives those people the freedom to drive like madmen?  I swear there were 4 different times I thought we’d clip another car, or just ram into one.  It freaks me out to put my life into the hands of a stranger.  I know they’ve got a different license that’s supposed to mean they’ve been trained to do this kind of work, but MAN!  It would seem that the certification isn’t all that arduous.

The flight home was uneventful.  It was crowded, but I had my aisle seat so I didn’t really mind.  Getting home to sleep in my own bed will be well worth it.

Cheers!