Emerge
Step into the Emerge Experience
Enhance your conference experience with our dynamic 3-day Emerge program—designed exclusively for forward-thinking investors, breakthrough startups, and innovation-minded executives from health systems and payer organizations. This isn’t just another conference track—it’s your launchpad for meaningful connections that drive healthcare forward.
Emerge delivers a carefully orchestrated series of high-value interactions: cutting-edge educational sessions that decode tomorrow’s healthcare landscape, electrifying pitch competitions showcasing the most promising solutions, curated one-on-one meetings between capital and innovation, and strategic networking opportunities that turn conversations into collaborations.
Whether you’re seeking funding, scouting your next investment, or searching for solutions to transform patient care, Emerge creates the perfect ecosystem where visionary ideas find the resources they need to scale.
Register for HIMSS27 and experience the Emerge conference path as part of any Conference, Conference Plus, or Exhibitor Plus Pass.
What Makes Emerge a Must-Attend Event?
Investment Firms
Who Should Attend?
- Venture Capitalists
- Private Equity Firms
- Investment Banks
- Senior Investors (Managing Partners/Directors & General Partners)
- Investors (Partners, Investors & Principals)
- Private Market Investing Professionals
- Portfolio Advisors (Venture & Operating Partners)
Why Emerge?
Gain unparalleled access to healthcare’s most promising startups addressing the specific needs of health systems and payers, all pre-vetted and ready for strategic investment. Connect directly with founders in curated one-on-one meetings, witness live pitches from tomorrow’s healthcare unicorns, and network with executive decision-makers who influence industry-wide technology adoption—all within a single, high-efficiency day at HIMSS27.
Startups & Growth Companies
Who Should Attend?
- Emerging Company Leaders
- Founders & CEOs
- C-Suite Executives (CFOs, CSOs, CIOs, CTOs, etc.)
- Innovation & Strategy Managers (SVPs, VPs & Directors)
Why Emerge?
Showcase your health system and payer solutions directly to qualified investors actively seeking healthcare innovation and connect with decision-makers who can become your next enterprise clients. The Emerge Experience offers you a rare triple opportunity: pitch your vision in the prestigious competition, secure targeted funding through curated investor meetings, and validate your solution with the exact healthcare executives who face the challenges you’re solving.
Executives
Who Should Attend?
- Healthcare Providers (Venture & Innovation)
- Healthcare Payers (Venture & Innovation)
Large Pharma (Venture & Innovation) - Corporate Venture Leaders (Managing Directors, Partners & Directors)
- Business Development Heads (SVPs, VPs & Directors)
- Innovation & Strategy Managers (SVPs, VPs & Directors)
Why Emerge?
Discover vetted, implementation-ready solutions addressing your organization’s most pressing challenges while connecting with innovative startups before they scale. At Emerge, you’ll gain early access to transformative technologies specifically designed for your environment, efficiently evaluate multiple solutions in a single day, and network with peer executives and investors shaping healthcare’s future—giving you the competitive edge in an increasingly complex digital health landscape.
Emerge Pitch Competition
Where Healthcare Innovation Finds Its Voice
Each Emerge Pitch Competition is a signature event within the Emerge track at HIMSS27, built to connect breakthrough startups directly with the investors they’re looking for and the healthcare executives who need them most.
The competition puts innovators face-to-face with decision-makers actively searching for implementable solutions to their most pressing priorities over the next 12 to 36 months.
Finalists will be invited to compete live on stage at HIMSS27 in front of an expert panel of judges, pitching for the Best in Show title across four categories critical to the future of healthcare:
- Patient Access, Experience & Care Navigation
- Workforce Optimization, Care Delivery & Clinical Operations
- Financial Performance & Payment Integrity
- Data Intelligence, Analytics & Predictive Insights
Each category spotlights startups solving distinct, high-stakes challenges—giving health systems and payers a focused view of the solutions most relevant to their goals, and giving finalists the stage to prove their solution is ready to lead.
For questions or inquiries about Emerge, please email us at emerge@himssconference.com.
Contest Categories and The Challenges at Hand
These aren’t hypothetical problems—they’re the urgent challenges shaping the future of care.
Challenge 1: Patient Access, Experience & Care Navigation
For solutions that make it easier for patients or members to access care, understand options, navigate services and benefits, and move through the care journey.
Choose This Challenge If
Your solution’s primary value is improving patient or member access, navigation, engagement, or care journey progression.
Challenge 2: Workforce Optimization, Care Delivery & Clinical Operations
For solutions that help care teams work more effectively, increase capacity, reduce burden, and improve care delivery across settings.
Choose This Challenge If
Your solution’s primary value is helping clinicians, staff, or operations teams deliver care more efficiently and sustainably.
Challenge 3: Financial Performance & Payment Integrity
For solutions that improve financial performance through stronger revenue cycle execution, payment integrity, claims accuracy, denials management, fraud prevention, and cost control.
Choose This Challenge If
Your solution’s primary value is improving revenue capture, payment accuracy, margin, medical cost, or administrative cost.
Challenge 4: Data Intelligence, Analytics & Predictive Insights
For solutions that turn fragmented data into usable intelligence through integration, interoperability, prediction, benchmarking, or decision support.
Choose This Challenge If
Analytics, prediction, intelligence, or decision support is the core product value, not just a feature supporting an operational, financial, or patient-facing workflow.
Three Winning Categories. Infinite Possibilities.
Winners gained exclusive access to industry power players, unmatched visibility, and a platform to make real impact.
Best in Show winners will receive...
- On-stage recognition during the awards ceremony and feature as Best in Show winners in the Digital PitchBook circulated to all Advisory Board members and investors.
- 4 highly coveted, pre-arranged 20-minute individual meetings with three Advisory Board executives and three funders, held at HIMSS27, during Emerge (same 4 meetings as realized through Finalist status).
- Recognition as Best in Show Winner on event walk-in slides during the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition keynote on April 8, 2027.
- Features within the extensive global marketing platform of the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition. The Emerge Experience will showcase all category winners, who will be highlighted in a dedicated, multi-channel post-conference marketing campaign. Winning entrants are positioned to receive significant visibility and connect with key stakeholders across the global healthcare industry.
- One complimentary, non-transferable HIMSS27 Conference Pass registration, which includes access to Emerge, the general education program, and the exhibition floor.
Finalists applicants will receive...
- A 10-minute live, on-stage presentation at Emerge at HIMSS27.
- 4 highly coveted, pre-arranged 20-minute individual meetings with Advisory Board Members or Funders, held at HIMSS27 during the Emerge event.
- Recognition on event walk-in slides during the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition keynotes on April 6-7, 2027.
- Recognition in the walk-in slides for all Emerge sessions.
- One complimentary, non-transferable HIMSS27 Conference Pass registration, which includes access to Emerge, the general education program, and the exhibition floor.
- Features within the extensive global marketing platform of the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition. Emerge will showcase all category winners, who will be highlighted in a dedicated, multi-channel post-conference marketing campaign. Finalists are positioned to receive significant visibility and connect with key stakeholders across the global healthcare industry.
- Featured listing in the Emerge Digital PitchBook, a curated guide to startup submissions shared with Advisory Board members and registered investors/innovation executives ahead of HIMSS27. Organized by the four 2027 challenge categories, it helps investors review startups early, prepare for meetings, and identify strong-fit opportunities, while giving startups added visibility and supporting stronger matchmaking, partnerships, and investment conversations.
Semi-Finalist applicants will receive...
- Inclusion in the global marketing efforts of the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition, highlighting the Emerge Pitch Competition and all category winners.
- Recognition in the walk-in slides for all Emerge sessions.
- Featured listing in the Emerge Digital PitchBook, a curated guide to startup submissions shared with Advisory Board members and registered investors/innovation executives ahead of HIMSS27. Organized by the four 2027 challenge categories, it helps investors review startups early, prepare for meetings, and identify strong-fit opportunities, while giving startups added visibility and supporting stronger matchmaking, partnerships, and investment conversations.
- A 10% discount on HIMSS27 registration.
Advisory Board
Kali
Arduini Ihde
Head of Innovation and Ventures
Northwestern Medicine
H. John
Beardsley
Senior VP of Corporate Strategy and Business Development – Payer & Risk Bearer Strategy
McKesson
Crystal
Broj
Medical Chief Digital Transformation Officer
Medical University of South Carolina
James
Hill
General Partner
Grand Ventures
Brian
Lindstrom
Partner
HealthX Ventures
Margaret
Malone
Healthcare Investor
Flare Capital Partners
Mike
McGarry
Senior Vice President,
Venture Acceleration
Matter
Keisuke
Nakagawa
Director of Strategic Impact and Growth
UC San Diego
Jim
Parshall
Executive Director,
Delivery Device R&D
Eli Lilly
Michael
Puchtler
President
Cursascend
Cris
Ross
Venture Partner & Advisor
Cris Ross Advisory, LLC
Michael
Thorn
Chair of Advance Practice Innovation
Mayo Clinic
Andrew
Walsh
Managing Director
First Analysis