Dear AuntMinnie Member,
LONG BEACH, CA - The 2014 edition of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) annual meeting opens today in sunny California, and AuntMinnie.com is on hand to give you the latest news.
In SIIM 2014's opening session, the Sam Dwyer Lecture, Katherine Andriole, PhD, from Harvard Medical School explained how the coming era of big data in healthcare promises to change imaging informatics. She believes that big data offers the potential to use large databases to identify problems in healthcare and predict patterns in data, even if the meaning of the patterns isn't yet fully understood.
But big data also offers major challenges, including storage, security, and privacy. Get all the details in Senior Editor Erik L. Ridley's report, and check back in our PACS Digital Community over the next several days for daily updates from SIIM 2014. For even fresher news, follow us on Twitter at @AuntMinnie.
Cannavo on PACS challenges
While we're on the topic of PACS, everyone's favorite PACS consultant (at least, he's our favorite consultant) is back with his latest column. Mike Cannavo tackles the current state of the PACS industry in an article that's sure to get folks talking in the halls of the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center.
Mike sees a PACS industry that's facing a multitude of challenges, from tight money for new purchases to end users who spend what little money they have on bells and whistles that aren't likely to benefit them. Meanwhile, changes such as meaningful use, ICD-10, and accountable care organizations are forcing everyone to go beyond doing more with less -- to do less with less.
Read more about Mike's unique perspectives on the industry by clicking here. And when you've finished, let us know what you think by commenting in our PACS Forum.
Radiologist interrupted
Everyone hates being interrupted when they're in the middle of something important. But what happens when you interrupt a radiologist trying to interpret a challenging case?
That's the question posed by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, who wanted to document just how harried on-call radiologists are. You probably won't be surprised by the answer: Off-hours imagers are beset with interruptions, spending an average of two hours on the phone per 12-hour shift.
And it's gotten worse over the past decade, as radiologists take on more responsibilities beyond just interpreting images. The study is sure to shape the debate over the changing role of radiologists. Learn more by clicking here, or visit our Imaging Leaders Digital Community at leaders.auntminnie.com.
