by
Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | September 17, 2018
From the September 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
HCB News: Is there a theme for this year? I know your tagline is “Best Practices in Imaging Informatics,” but is there a theme?
DH: You can see from the agenda that there’s a focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning. At least two of the talks and the vendor panel are focusing on that, so if anything would be a theme, I’d say it’s that.
HCB News: When you’re putting the agenda together, are you working on talking about the future?
DH: The reason I kept the same tagline from the start, “Best Practices in Imaging Informatics,” is because it endures. Best practices are constantly evolving, so the talks are around what’s going on and where things are going to work best. We don’t have lectures about historical reviews, it’s not about learning history. It’s not even about a comparison of regional practices of radiology or informatics because I’m not interested in a difference just for the sake of the difference. I’m interested in sharing about what’s working best. What is the way to give the best patient care in the future? What changes can you make to practice better? That’s the focus we’ve always had. What changes is what constitutes those better practices.
HCB News: Is there a lot of audience participation during the presentations at NYMIIS?
DH: It’s designed to be that way and it is that way. It’s rare that there’s silence when the speaker asks if there are any questions. Usually, hands go up or there’s a line at the microphone. It’s a point of pride for me to have that participation and interest from attendees.
HCB News: Is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to talk about?
DH: Yes. One of the things we first did in 2015 that we’re bringing back in 2018 is the academic posters. To me, that was a beautiful part of the meeting. I like the ability for people to submit abstracts and present posters. It gives researchers a venue to get ideas and research out there. I love watching conference attendees spending time reading posters, looking at what people present. Lectures are wonderful, but posters are like a buffet. You can go right to what interests you and dive right in. We give prizes to compete for too. It brings out the best in the researchers and piques the interest of the attendees. It’s a gem of the meeting and I’m really happy to bring it back.
For more information about the conference, visit nymiis.com
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