Best Moments from Milwaukee’s ISM 2019 Annual Conference

Bob Tisone

Technological advances, automated, online processes and modern workforce issues have brought significant changes to HHS programs, introducing an array of challenges as well as new opportunities.

The role of health and human services professionals is also evolving to keep up with the pace of such change. Adopting an agile mindset and a culture of innovation can help organizations and individuals to embrace the emerging opportunities to help transform Health and Human Services.

These are just a few of the highlights we learned during September’s 52^nd Annual ISM Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Conduent HHS team traveled to Milwaukee to visit old friends, make new ones, and learn what’s new from ISM’s largest HHS technology event dedicated to improving the delivery of health and human services.

At the conference, educational sessions covered the latest trends and top-of-mind topics from health and human services experts and federal government leaders. There were also multiple opportunities to network with peers and exchange ideas with other government and industry leaders. Some highlights include:

Conduent showcased how our solutions fulfill the breadth of HHS requirements and agency needs—from Child Support Enforcement Systems, to EBT/WIC Payment Services, to Enrollment & Eligibility, the Public Assistance Consumer Portal, and more. The Consumer Portal, for example, helps constituents manage their benefits for an entire household across multiple programs, from Medicaid, to SNAP and TANF. Using the portal, constituents can self-serve and use multiple channels to communicate with state agencies.

Conduent executives and Indiana Family and Social Services co-presented a session entitled, "Collaborating to Serve 1.5 million Hoosiers - Elevating Interactions for Indiana Family and Social Services." In this session we shared important details about how Indiana and Conduent worked together to overhaul Indiana’s FSSA, and how transformation helped Indiana overcome crucial challenges to become one of the nation’s most successful and sophisticated HHS service organizations.

Data protection and cybersecurity continued to grow as a top trending topic at ISM. Conference leaders shared how organizations are working to educate all personnel, not just IT divisions, about why it’s important for everyone to understand cyberthreats to HHS data, and why this information is desired by threat actors around the globe.

From exploring the implications of agile technologies to addressing workforce challenges in state government agencies, the ISM 2019 Annual Conference provided state agency leaders and other attendees with information about products and services that will help them address HHS challenges. It also enabled them to collaborate and exchange information on specific best practices and innovations.

We congratulate the state agencies nominated and selected for ISM Recognition Awards, especially the winners for Collaboration Across Boundaries, Best Use of Technology for Operations, and Best Use of Technology for Customers, as well as the Jerry W. Friedman Excellence in Leadership Award.

As a proud Platinum sponsor, our Conduent team appreciated the opportunity to connect with colleagues, clients and information technology experts from across the U.S. We also enjoyed discussing how we can work together to better meet the needs of the constituents we serve. Conduent is looking forward to continuing our involvement and support of ISM and its mission in the years ahead.