by
Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | May 30, 2017
From the May 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
HCB News: What else is coming out of SIIM this year?
PN: In January, the board had a retreat and we developed our new strategic plan, a four-year direction to map out goals and the tactical steps to accomplish them. This plan should be released at our annual meeting in June. The great partnership we have had with HIMSS on enterprise imaging has led us to look for ways to expand our intersociety partnerships with RSNA, ACR and AMIA. The American College of Radiology led an intersociety retreat last summer, which has led to an effort to build an online informatics training program for radiology residents.
HCB News: Working so well with other societies, does that lead to crossover with members having roles in more than one organization?
PN: Many of our leaders are also members of other societies and there is considerable overlap between SIIM leaders and informatics leaders in RSNA and the ACR. These partnerships benefit us all by cross pollinating ideas and finding opportunities to collaborate.
HCB News: Is the rapid pace of technological advances a challenge for your members?
PN: SIIM is a society, by its definition, of early adopters. Our members are always looking for ways to translate new technologies into clinical care. This means looking past the hype of new technologies and finding meaningful value.
HCB News: Are bring-your-own devices coming into play and getting addressed by SIIM?
PN: Security, clinical workflow and data integrity are crucial to helping physicians generate and share images of patients with their colleagues on their mobile devices.
HCB News: What are the biggest challenges facing your members today?
PN: This year’s theme focuses on building bridges to lead the transformation across the enterprise. Integrating new imaging devices throughout a system, sharing imaging and providing patients access to imaging.
HCB News: Are current technology advancements making it easier or more difficult to carry out job duties in the imaging informatics field?
PN: Technological change is not slowing down. Imaging informaticists need to be constantly learning to stay on top of changes to our field.
HCB News: How is big data shaping the field and how much is it improving patient care at this point in time?
PN: It’s still at the early stages of applying disruptive technologies for the use of data in health care. We have become adept at collecting large amounts of data, but are still in the early stages of being able to analyze, predict and intervene in clinical care with new insights.
