SIIM/RSNA Practicing Radiologist Course - SIIM News Fall 2008

Would you like to spend fewer evenings at work? If you are a busy practicing radiologist, knowledge of basic informatics principles can help you to become more productive and efficient. Some industry analysts credit PACS and related technologies for solving the radiologist shortage of 2000-2002. The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine and the Radiological Society of North America will once again be combining efforts to offer a course in basic informatics geared specifically to the imaging physician at the 2009 SIIM Annual Meeting in Charlotte. Speakers include some of the most knowledgeable and entertaining in the industry.

Keith Dreyer from Massachusetts General Hospital will start things off with a talk entitled “Marriage Counseling: How to Work with IT.” This session will help you get the most out of your relationship with your informatics staff.

Communication tasks – including report creation, critical results communication, and others – take up much of our time as radiologists, often unnecessarily. David Weiss from Geisinger Medical Center will address this problem with, “We Never Talk Anymore: Communication in the Electronic Age.” This presentation will help practicing radiologists understand how to streamline their workflow using new reporting and communication software.

In managing a private practice, patient satisfaction is paramount. Knowing the status of patient waiting times for each modality at any given moment can be critical. This is only one feature that Paul Nagy from the University of Maryland will be discussing in his session, “Keeping Your Eyes on the Road: Digital Dashboards in Radiology.”

With the switch to softcopy imaging, radiologists are increasingly confined to a single workstation for many hours per day. This can take a toll on our body and can also affect concentration. “Saving Your Body (and Your Mind): Redesigning the Radiology Reading Environment,” an excellent presentation by Eliot Siegel from the University of Maryland, will address ways to make your work environment more comfortable and conducive to accurate interpretation.

A number of practices are now determining that they need to change PACS vendors. This may be because of dissatisfaction with performance, lack of vendor support, or simply obsolescence. Whatever the reason, this is not a trivial decision. Steve Horii of the University of Pennsylvania has extensive experience in this area and will be addressing these issues in his session, “Divorce Counseling: Changing PACS.” Content is perfect for non-radiologists just starting the PACS process.

"PACS for the Extended Family: Digital Imaging in Pathology" will discuss the role of PACS in pathology. John Gilbertson, Director of Pathology Informatics at Massachusetts General Hospital, will present this talk.

The days of simply scrolling through an axial set of CT images have long since passed. Radiologists now need to understand how best to reconstruct, display, and analyze volumetric data sets. The always entertaining Adam Flanders from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital will close the session with, “So Many Images, So Little Time: Advanced Imaging Techniques,” offering practical advice on incorporating advanced visualization software and workflow into your practice.

The Practicing Radiologist course will be offered at the SIIM 2009 Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC, on Sunday, June 7, 2009. The Imaging Physician Bootcamp is included in the full meeting registration fee. A Special Weekend rate is also available for the Saturday-Sunday program at SIIM 2009 that includes the Imaging Physician Bootcamp on Sunday morning. Visit the SIIM website at www.siimweb.org/md for more information on the SIIM/RSNA joint program.