Meeting Emphasizes Imaging Informatics in the Enterprise

The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM; Leesburg, VA, USA; formerly SCAR) plans to host its 2007 Annual Meeting June 7-10, 2007, in Providence, RI, USA.

The meeting will feature a comprehensive educational and scientific program unrivaled in the field, "SIIM 2007 will cover topics that span the realm of imaging across the health care enterprise,” according to Program Committee Chair Bradley J. Erickson, M.D., Ph.D.

The program includes opening and closing general session keynote speakers who are true medical informatics pioneers according to SIIM chair, Curt Langlotz, M.D., Ph.D. "John Glaser, our opening speaker, created the model for the modern health care chief information officer (CIO). Ted Shortliffe, our closing keynote speaker, is a physician who played a key role in establishing the scientific discipline of medical informatics, and continues to edit the seminal textbook in the field,” said Dr. Langlotz. Both speakers will address the growing role that imaging informatics plays in healthcare organizations.

A new general session has been scheduled this year, a live workflow demonstration that will highlight some of the practical issues involved with large data sets. Three physicians representing varying specialty areas will demonstrate resolution of an individual case using the same dataset; the common dataset for the case will also be available to all exhibitors in the exhibit hall to hold their own demonstrations in their booths, allowing the educational session to continue in the hall and demonstrate different workflow solutions. "This is a chance to see how different systems and radiologists approach typical clinical scenarios, with emphasis on large data sets,” said Dr. Erickson.

The meeting theme, "Imaging Informatics for the Enterprise,” is designed to capture the scope of the program and the educational sessions illustrate the expanded focus of the society. One SIIM university session of particular interest investigates "Enterprise Integration Strategies toward the Multimedia EHR.” According to Session Chair Paul Chang, M.D., medical images must be seamlessly incorporated into the electronic health record (EHR), but the technology must adapt to accommodate domain-specific workflows for the individual radiologist, cardiologist, pathologist, or other clinical specialist. Far from applying a one-size-fits-all approach, customized software interfaces and new integration approaches such as service-oriented architecture should be introduced to allow the average physician to leverage the advantages of digital-based multimedia.

In addition, three "hot topic” sessions that address especially well imaging issues throughout the enterprise (Procedure Room Workflow in the Interventional Radiology/Cardiology Suite, Picture Archiving Communications System (PACS)/Radiology Information System (RIS) Replacement, and Leveraging Information Technology (IT) for Quality and Safety) will incorporate a one-hour breakout session to facilitate interaction with invited speakers, session leaders, and other attendees.

Of particular note in 2007 are three new-featured scientific sessions, which include a combination of invited speakers and scientific abstract presentations, all related to one topic. This year's featured session topics are Optimizing the Interpretation Process,” "Image Processing, 3D and Computer-Assisted Detection (CAD),” and "Productivity and Workflow.”

SIIM is also offering a virtual facility tour of the MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX, USA) throughout the meeting, and the fifth year of its highly rated pre-conference symposium for imaging informatics professionals (IIP).

The complete program includes seven scientific sessions plus a poster and demonstration session; the 7th SIIM R&D Symposium; 12 SIIM university educational sessions; 10 "hot topic” sessions; nine roundtable breakfast discussions; and over 150 companies displaying technical exhibits.

SIIM aspires to be a leading health care professional organization representing the interests and goals of those who work with and whose work is affected by the rapidly changing world of information and imaging technologies. SIIM seeks to spearhead research, education, and discovery of innovative systems and bridge the gap between technology and medicine.


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Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine