SIIM Virtual Meeting offers niche imaging value in altered format
I look forward to summer, not just for the pleasant weather, but also because it’s time again for my favorite conference of the year – The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) Annual Meeting.
SIIM has always been my favorite, due to its intimacy and charm. I love seeing dozens of familiar faces and imaging informatics colleagues in this niche industry of ours. I even love the awkwardness of having competitors at adjacent booths.
This was the first SIIM conference I have missed attending in person since 2012. SIIM, like most other conferences, transitioned from an onsite conference to a 100 percent virtual event this year.
Enterprise imaging for all ‘ologies
The buzzwords that dominate SIIM have held true over the last decade — content, healthcare interoperability, image sharing, various ‘ologies, and workflow. What I get the most excited about is the idea of enterprise imaging and various ‘ologies.
A powerful enterprise imaging solution helps providers acquire medical images and/or videos from disparate silos and links them to larger repositories such as a PACS (picture archiving and communications system), VNA (vendor neutral archive), and even an EMR (electronic medical record).
Moreover, it does all of this in context of the patient record, providing a comprehensive view of a patient’s medical imaging history from a single source. Whether the providers are performing a surgical procedure or capturing images on their personal cell phones, the right enterprise imaging solution accomplishes this with the ability of a true DICOM modality worklist ability and the use of encounter-based imaging via the EMR.
Because no one wants to manually enter patient information.
In our experience, many customers will start by acquiring images and videos in a single department first, and then it catches on like wildfire. Department after department will look to acquire images and patient context in order to fulfill a more accurate patient story for physicians and nurses.
Enhancing radiology reporting and voice recognition
Another topic that I missed discussing in person at SIIM with our partners at Nuance Communications is voice recognition workflow. With more than 300+ mutual customers, Hyland and Nuance have changed the game when it comes to structured report integration into the voice recognition system.
The ability to integrate measurements and values into reports typically shows a time savings in the 20 to 30 percent range, as well as improved accuracy of radiologist reports. This all started in ultrasound as a significant time savings, but now we’re connecting the structured report data to Dexa, CT dose, MRI, Echo, ABIs, and injectors into the voice recognition system.
The return on investment for our customers is enormous. And the increased value to patients is incredible.
See you next year, hopefully
While I missed many of the aspects of the in-person conference, the SIIM virtual event still provided plenty of important information. I attended several virtual sessions and gained some interesting insights that I can’t wait to take back and apply to our Hyland solution suite.
The conference’s theme of “Reimagining the future” is exactly what I have in mind.
SIIM 2020 may have taken on a different format this year, but its essence remained the same. That said, I hope the conference will be able to return to its traditional physical format next year in Portland.
