The HLTH 2021 conference was hosted at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
from October 17-20 and brought together over 6500+ Attendees, 350+ Speakers, and 600+ Sponsors.
About HLTH 2021
HLTH 2021 is the preeminent event designed for the digital health industry, bringing together senior leaders to solve healthcare’s most pressing problems and realize the most promising opportunities to create health’s future.
HLTH 2021 featured four days of engaging content, networking, educational sessions, and dynamic events for payers, providers, employers, investors, startups, life sciences, policymakers and innovation centers.
The HLTH conference attracted 6,561 in-person attendees, 360 speakers, 3,070 organizations, and held 160 sessions – all through the sponsorship of 607 different organizations, including MeHI. Thousands of attendees traveled to the Boston area and helped boost local economy. 13 Boston hotels were sold out, restaurants were full, and dogs were even adopted from a local rescue, Shultz's Guest House.
View videos of the event on HTLH's YouTube channel.
MA Digital Health Council
In 2016, the Baker-Polito Administration established the Massachusetts Digital Health Council to advise the Governor regarding the digital healthcare industry and to develop a growth plan to achieve the goal of establishing Massachusetts as the leading global ecosystem for the digital health industry.
In 2019, the MA Digital Health Council released a report with 8 core objectives, including “establishing a pre-eminent digital health conference in Massachusetts.” The Council identified HLTH as the target, calling it “a top-tier digital health conference and one of the premier conferences for healthcare innovation” (pages 10-11).
After a joint public-private effort, the Council met its goal and in 2021, the HLTH conference made its debut in Boston. Read more about the MA Digital Health Council and download the 2019 report.
Mass Digital Health at HLTH 2021
private partnership working to execute the recommendations of the MA Digital Health Council. Managed by the Massachusetts eHealth Institute at MassTech (MeHI), the Initiative aims to establish Massachusetts as the leading global ecosystem for digital health innovation, driving economic impact and improving healthcare costs and quality. Read more about the Mass Digital Health Initiative here.
Mass Digital Health was a title sponsor of the HLTH 2021 conference in Boston. At the Mass Digital Health lounge in the main exhibit hall, members of MeHI’s Digital Health team engaged with government, academia, startups, and digital health professionals from across the country.
The Mass Digital Health lounge showcased Initiative partners from across the Commonwealth, featuring images from Practicepoint at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, TechSpring @ Baystate Health in Springfield, and Rendever in Somerville. Digital displays highlighted the Initiative’s program and partners, including the Digital Health Sandbox Program and the Mass Caregiving Initiative at the MassTech Collaborative, an initiative created to support caregivers in their communities and workplaces by partnering with the public and private sectors to drive innovation in the Commonwealth.
Laurance Stuntz, Director of the MeHI, hosted talks in the lounge on the Digital Health Sandbox program with Sandbox Network members Joe Diver, Director of Digital Transformation at Baystate Health and Innovation Strategist for TechSpring, and Adam Landman, MD, Chief Information and Digital Innovation Officer at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
The digital health 'sandboxes' are cutting-edge research and development facilities that provide a wide range of services supporting the lifecycle of validation and testing for digital health companies. These research centers, which are located across Massachusetts, aid companies in developing and validating their products or services with grant funding administered by MeHI. Learn more about the Sandbox Program here.
A featured event at HLTH 2021 was the Startup Pitch competitions. Katie Green, MeHI’s Sandbox Program Manager, participated as a judge for the AARP AgeTech Pitch Competition, listening to pitches from 8 innovative agetech companies. Somatix, Inc. won the judges prize and NeuroRehabVR won the audience vote.
