From the SIIM Executive Director - Thank you! - SIIM News Summer 2009

Anna Marie Mason, MS, CAE

On behalf of the entire SIIM community and staff, I would like to extend a sincere Thank You to the Annual Meeting Program Committee and to all the SIIM 2009 faculty for their hard work and efforts in re-engineering the educational program of the SIIM Annual Meeting. Their efforts to expand Applied Learning Sessions and include more discussion resulted in a much more dynamic and interactive meeting. The Program Committee, under the leadership of Kathy Andriole, PhD, has now begun to explore and develop new content and learning track topics for 2010 based on suggestions from the meeting evaluation forms.  Thanks to all of you who completed the SIIM 2009 online evaluation. We value your input.

We also want to particularly recognize the exhibiting companies, corporate sponsors, and advertisers for their support and participation during this challenging year as the industry navigates a sea of change and keeps up with the shifting landscapes of health care IT.

Most importantly, our thanks goes out to the attendees at SIIM 2009, who have contributed to another chapter in the SIIM success story with high levels of energy and interaction within the educational sessions, on the technical exhibit floor, and throughout the entire SIIM 2009 meeting. SIIM is its members, and I thank each of you for your participation at the meeting and in the society.

A special thanks to the 4th Annual ‘Ride to SIIM’ riders and contributors (Dave Channin, Howard Chez, Brad Erickson, Donald Harrington, Kevin Hobert, Alex Kogan, Curt Langlotz, Michael Lavin, and Daniel Rubin). The riders (Dave Channin and Alex Kogan) had an exciting trip, raising over $2,200 for SIIM, with their cycling adventure through the Smoky Mountains, the Cherohala Skyway, and the Tail of the Dragon. These monies will be used to fund the endowment for the Samuel Dwyer Named Lecture and to support the SIIM imaging informatics grant program. It is not too late to give a contribution to the R&E Fund. Visit the SIIM Giving Program webpage and submit your gift today.

Considering the challenges of the current economy, it was somewhat fortuitous that the SIIM Program Committee decided last summer to re-structure the educational program of the SIIM Annual Meeting in ways that emphasize the strengths of smaller meetings. Though our annual meeting’s attendance statistics were lower as compared to previous years, the 2009 meeting provided the opportunity to take advantage of the new program and resulted in sessions with greater interaction, networking, hands-on learning, debate, and discussion.

We are currently planning for SIIM 2010 to extend the given approach to the technical exhibits of the SIIM Annual Meeting, so as to integrate and involve our corporate members and exhibitors more fully into the annual meeting.  To ensure the technical exhibits remain an integral part of the SIIM Annual Meeting, SIIM leaders hosted a teleconference in late June with senior executives of SIIM corporate member companies. The goals for these communications are not only to improve the 2010 meeting experience, but also to create a stronger, more interlinked SIIM organization for the entire breadth of members, attendees, and vendors within the imaging informatics community.

I look forward to serving and engaging SIIM members and the community with their multiple perspectives and diverse needs during the upcoming year. Please feel free to contact me at amason@siimweb.org, or 703-723-0432 x 306. Have a good summer!

Thank You Sponsors & Advertisers

SIIM would like to thank the following corporations for their generous support of the SIIM 2009 Annual Meeting through sponsorship and advertising:

Sponsors:

Barco
Carestream Health
GE Healthcare
McKesson Provider Technologies
Agfa HealthCare Corporation
Siemens Healthcare

Advertisers:

AMICAS, Inc.
Amirsys, Inc.
Avreo, Inc.
Carestream Health
DeJarnette Research Systems, Inc.
DR Systems, Inc.
Laitek, Inc.
LEAD Technologies, Inc.
MedInformatix, Inc.
MEDRAD, Inc.
NovaRad Corp.
OnePacs
peerVue, LLC
Sorna Corp.
VIDAR Systems Corp.

Thank you SIIM Annual Meeting Program Committee Members

(l-r): Chuck Socia, Tony Seibert, Kathy Andriole, Raym Geis, Steve Horii, Rick Wiggins, David Weiss, Wyatt Tellis, and Paul Chang
Not pictured: David Avrin, Adam Flanders, Matt Morgan