UK ITS showcases expertise, attends top health care tech conference in Las Vegas
In early March, Simone Biles spoke at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Global Health Conference. Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, is a staunch mental health advocate, and her discussion left a lasting impression on University of Kentucky Information Technology Services (UK ITS) team members.
“It was truly inspiring to hear Simone Biles as a keynote speaker,” Epic IT director of acute clinical services Lisa Deaton said. “Her determination and unparalleled success in gymnastics are remarkable, but her advocacy for mental health awareness is equally commendable.”
“While it might seem hard to draw a connection between Simone Biles and health care technology, her story of successes through determination, coaching, therapy and teamwork is similar to how we all work together and advocate for greatness in our work,” Chief Digital & Information Officer for UK Healthcare Katie Dickens said.
Several UK ITS team members — Brian Nichols, Stephen Burr, Katie Dickens, Jessica Collins, Isaac Payne and Lisa Deaton — attended the 2025 HIMSS conference in Las Vegas.
As one of the leading health care tech industry conferences, this year’s HIMSS event hosted several notable speakers including former leader of the U.S Cyber Command and the National Security Agency/Central Security Service Army General Paul M. Nakasone and President of Samsung Medical Center Dr. Seung-woo Park.
Lisa Deaton, who is also a registered nurse, is the KY Bluegrass Chapter President for HIMSS. This year, Deaton was selected as one of the Voices of HIMSS25 and shared her insights on how the organization has impacted her as a chapter leader.
“It was an honor to set the tone for such an important event and have an opportunity to inspire and inform so many professionals in healthcare IT,” Deaton said. “I am especially passionate about using technology to address access-to-care barriers and had the opportunity to share insights on this important issue.”
For Katie Dickens, one of her biggest takeaways from this year’s conference was the significance of incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into a health care setting.
“Embracing the adoption and use of AI tools and continuing to educate our teams and customers on the advancements of these tools within the health care space, will help innovate and improve the healthcare experience,” Dickens said. “Thankfully, we are seeing progress in our use of AI at UK with recent pilots with Microsoft Nuance Digital Ambient eXperience (DAX), Microsoft Copilot and evaluation of the Epic AI suite of products, and I expect that over the next year, we will continue to see a proliferation of opportunities to engage and use AI in health care at UK.”
Chief Nursing Information Officer Jessica Collins said the overall experience was very impactful and gave her the chance to collaborate with fellow CNIOs throughout the U.S. and from around the world.
Regardless of the types of technology that can be implemented within a health care setting, Collins said one important takeaway from the conference emphasized the crucial roles of nursing staff.
“Most notably, sessions reinforced the concept of leveraging these technologies to reduce administrative burdens on nursing staff, enabling them to focus more on direct patient care, rather than diminishing the need for nurses,” she said.
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