This year, the IAMERS meeting was held at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC. There was a nice crowd, the meeting rooms were comfortable and the food was good.
A lot of topics were covered but to me, the most interesting was the business meeting.
As you may know, IAMERS is now 20 years old. The association focuses heavily on diagnostic imaging equipment. Members are involved in buying pre-owned equipment, selling pre-owned equipment, supplying service and supplying spare parts.
It is my belief that independent service firms like the ones that are members of IAMERS are on the cutting edge of a change that is occurring in the world.
These alternative service firms will help health care providers lower the cost of health care and I am proud to be helping that trend.
Anyway, at the business meeting, there was some enthusiastic conversation and suggestions about new initiatives that IAMERS can pursue to create greater awareness about alternative services. I expect to see some great things happening at IAMERS in the next year and I am going to do everything I possibly can to help facilitate those changes.
Some of you may know that IAMERS holds a networking event every year at the RSNA. I believe last year there were about 400 people there-- it is a real who's who of diagnostic imaging.
As attendance has grown, so have the costs. The members attending the business meeting suggested that we charge each attendee an entry fee to help cover these costs. There seemed to be unanimous agreement in the business meeting and I believe that this is needed. I understand that the IAMERS board also agreed that this was a good idea.
Carolyn Shaw was recently appointed to the IAMERS board and has become the chairwoman of the new committee charged with reaching out to the IAMERS members to ask for their opinion about the new initiatives that IAMERS should pursue. I will be commenting and reporting on the activities of this committee in the weeks to come so stay tuned for updates.
Also, make sure you check out the news
story we wrote on Siemens Healthcare. This change is a first step to a entirely new health care environment.
Phil is a member of AHRA, HFMA, AAMI and the Cryogenic Society of America. He has contributed to a number of magazines and journals and has addressed trade groups.
Phil's proudest achievement is that he has been happily married to his wife Barbara since 1989, who helped him found DOTmed in 1998.
