BRUSSELS – 22 June 2015 – The European Coordination Committee of the Radiological, Electromedical and Healthcare IT Industry (COCIR*) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS**) have renewed their cooperation agreement to progress their common goal of improving the use of information and management systems for the betterment of healthcare.

Since the agreement was initially signed in 2008, COCIR and HIMSS have cooperated through a number of events including eHealth Week as well through COCIR’s first eHealth Summit last year.

Collectively representing various stakeholders in the health ICT field, with some industries holding memberships in both organisations, COCIR and HIMSS are committed to advancing the best use of information and management systems for improving healthcare systems.

H. Stephen Lieber, HIMSS President and CEO, said:”With this MoU, HIMSS’ cooperation with COCIR has been reinforced and we look forward to continuing jointly ensuring adequate information is available for stakeholders so that positive policy decisions are made to improve healthcare access quality as well as improving the efficiency of healthcare systems and driving patient outcomes.”

Joost Leeflang, COCIR President, stated, “The collaboration between COCIR and HIMSS has successfully raised awareness to European decision-makers on the important role of the health ICT sector in centralising best practices and focusing on deployment. We look forward to continuing our joint efforts transforming healthcare, towards seamless integrated care and executing projects at European, regional and national levels”.

*COCIR is the European Trade Association representing the medical imaging, radiotherapy, health ICT and electromedical industries. Founded in 1959, COCIR is a non-profit association headquartered in Brussels (Belgium) with a China Desk based in Beijing since 2007. COCIR is the leading EU Industry Voice in eHealth and is unique as it brings together the healthcare, IT and telecommunications industries. COCIR also acts at International level via BIAC and DITTA. Visit www.cocir.org

** HIMSS, a not-for-profit organization, cause-based global enterprise, produces health IT thought leadership, education, events, market research and media services around the world. Founded in 1961, HIMSS encompasses more than 60,000 individuals, of which more than two-thirds work in healthcare provider, governmental and not-for-profit organisations across the globe, plus over 600 corporations and 250 not-for-profit partner organisations, that share this cause. HIMSS, headquartered in Chicago, serves the global health IT community with additional offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia Visit www.himss.org

The joint press release can be downloaded in pdf format by clicking here

For more information, contact:

Nicole Denjoy 
COCIR Secretary General        
Tel: +32 (0)2 706 8961
denjoy@cocir.org      

Kathryn Sheridan
COCIR Communications Advisor
Tel: +32 (0)496 116198    
press@cocir.org