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Welcome to the AVINews Monthly. We'd love your feedback on our ongoing efforts to improve the newsletter and its format, so email us your comments: martinmkm@mminformatics.com |
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Your officers for 2005-2006 are: President - Dr. Michael K. Martin Feedback Please let us know if you have any suggestions or comments about AVI. |
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Our goal for this newsletter, and for the Talbot Symposium is to balance topics relating to informatics research and development with those of direct application to clinical practice. It is not unusual for a decade to pass between the development of a technology or standard and its application in clinical practice. This pattern may be changing. The pace of technology adoption has clearly been increasing in recent years and veterinary practice is following this trend. Digital radiology has taken hold in veterinary practice much more rapidly than many of us would have expected. With it has come a need to integrate veterinary information systems with digital radiology equipment. In this issue Dennis Ballance reports on the work of the newly formed Veterinary DICOM working group. Dr. Ballance's paper should be of interest to both standards geeks and practitioners. I've have been very impressed with the material I've received to include in the newsletter this year. You've made my job almost easy. Now it is time for me to ask again. The call for papers for the 2007 AVMA is now available, and with it our call for papers for the Talbot Symposium. I know that the summer of 2007 seems a long way off, especially in computer technology time but use your imagination and think about what the work you are doing now may look like by then and give us a general proposal for your topics. The notes won't be due until spring 2007, and by then you'll have a more precise idea of where the work will be. I hope to see you, and hear you speak, in Washington. Dr. Michael K. Martin |
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The Official Call for Papers for the 2007 Talbot Symposium is available. The deadline for submission is February 2, 2006. The response to last year's call for papers was outstanding. We hope to repeat that success for 2007. There will again be 8 tracks of information available to us for programming (Sun-Wed, AM & PM) and we have assigned broad topics to those sessions. Of course, if you have a submission that is definitely worthy, yet doesn't fit neatly into the broad topics, we will still consider it! Last year the submission process moved to the web to make it easier to collect the submissions. This year, we have an on-line web form that goes through an advertising supported form emailer. If you'd rather, the forms are on the web, and you can fill them in (Word, Open Document, or Text) and email them directly to me. The forms are posted at: http://www.avinformatics.org/symposia/symposia.htm. I'll try to send you a confirmation email that I have received your entry within 72 hours of submission. Dr. Robertson and I will begin to review the submissions and coordinate with our AVMA section chief regarding the 2007 Talbot Symposium near the end of February. The schedule will be finalized by AVMA and announcements back to speakers by sometime in the fall. |
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What's Happening with DICOM and PACS by Dennis Ballance, DVM Veterinary Medicine is embracing the world of digital imaging with a vengeance. While we have traditionally lagged behind our human counterparts in the use and integration of digital imaging equipment into practice, that gap is closing rapidly and as a profession we are taking on an active role in shaping the digital world to meet our needs. DICOM is the standard image structure and communication protocol that is used by imaging equipment, network storage devices, and viewing workstations to share the images across vendor boundaries. It turns out that this definition is really quite simplistic. DICOM also allows for seamless workflow between hospital information systems (HISs) and imaging devices. It allows (for instance) the entry of an order into the HIS to automatically populate the digital xray machine with all the patient information, and for the xray system to correctly bill for every study that is performed. It allows the viewing software to correctly arrange the images on the screen in the preferred orientation. It allows one practice to take a CD of images from another practice and view those images. The list goes on. And, as you can tell, veterinary medicine is still taking its first steps into this world. As you may be aware, the American College of Veterinary Radiology (ACVR) has joined the DICOM Standards Committee, and has sponsored the formation of the 25 th working group for Veterinary Applications. At its first meeting at the beginning of December, the group worked out specifics for a substantial number of new identification attributes that can be supplied with a veterinary patient, attributes such as species, breed, breed registry, responsible person/organization, RFID/barcode number (for AVID chips), and neutered state. The group is hopeful that these new identifier fields will be official before the end of 2006, and at that point it would only be a matter of time before imaging vendors and information system companies start supporting these attributes in their products. If you are interested in knowing more about the working group, or would like to participate in the email list, please contact Dennis Ballance (dwballance@ucdavis.edu). Another aspect of digital imaging that warrants serious discussion is practice workflow. With an increasing number of facilities installing digital equipment, the hassles of maintaining chemical processors and space for filing hardcopies are being replaced with workflow hassles. Mistyping patient information into the device before image acquisition causes studies to be “lost” in the database; imaging devices that cannot communicate back to a scheduling system cannot inform the radiologist or clinician that a study is ready for review; and lack of automated billing means some work performed does not get compensation. The important thing to realize here is that we are not alone. The human market has gone through (and still is going through) the same pains. The solution that human imaging has adopted is called Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise, or IHE. Basically, IHE is a collection of information drawn from HL7 and DICOM that supports a specific use case. The first use case defined was the “workflow”, which describes all the system components and all the specific DICOM and HL7 elements that are required to take a patient who needs an imaging study through the process of acquiring the images and getting a report. Because this scenario was written to accommodate the complete range of facilities (from a small single practice to a multi-site institution), the scenario maps nicely into veterinary medicine. Every year, the IHE sponsors a “connect-a-thon”, which is basically a gathering of technical staff from a wide variety of imaging and information system companies. These companies set up their equipment in a big room and perform test connections to prove compliance with specific IHE use case scenarios. At subsequent conferences, these vendors can then claim IHE compliance. A group of veterinary practitioners and vendors have already begun discussions of ways to encourage IHE compliance within our profession, and the IHE has indicated willingness to include veterinary IS and imaging companies in future “connect-a-thons”. If you are interested in participating in the IHE planning process, please contact Matt Wright (matt@animalinside.com). |
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Computer Models Demo Bird Flu Migration Computer simulation public health experts preparing for a feared avian flu pandemic are using computer models to get a glimpse of how the disease might spread if the bird virus were to start passing between people. Complete Bio-IT World article available at: Bio-IT World. http://www.bio-itworld.com/newsitems/2005/dec2005/12-05-05-news-avian-flu Harvard Hopes Database will Speed Cancer Cures Harvard hospitals are establishing a ''virtual specimen locator" to encourage sharing among researchers and speed up discovery of life-saving cancer screening tests and treatments -- a concept they hope to expand to the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Indiana School of Medicine. Complete Boston Globe article available at: The Boston Globe. Health Care Should Accelerate Adoption of Technology The use of technology in health care is propelling the practice of medicine toward new levels of clinical excellence and patient care quality. Today, health care organizations are slowly adopting systems that bring evidence-based, clinical information to the point of care when it's needed. Insider View article of the Boston Business Journal available at: Boston Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2005/11/21/focus3.html Veterinary Medicine Receives $1 Million Gift to Improve Library Informatics has become a significant factor in the design of new library facilities at Veterinary Colleges. Educational technologies are "on the radar" of major contributors. The College of Veterinary Medicine is renovating and moving its library, thanks to a gift from St. Louisan Thelma Zalk. http://alumniemail.missouri.edu/dp.asp?dsid=3730494&pid=2542&key=186186028853835 IT-Related Deaths Highlight Tech Needs A recent CPOE article in Journal of Pediatrics showing an increase in pediatric ICU deaths related to implementation of computerized provider order entry has been picked up by UPI. Note Paul Tang's comments at the end: Paul Tang, incoming chair of the American Medical Informatics Association, said he thought there would be less risk with computerized healthcare systems in the future if the software were implemented by specialists. "Anywhere along the line, from designing the system to its implementation, the process needs to be handled by medical informatics specialists. After all, you don't let general practitioners dispense powerful chemotherapy drugs," Tang told UPI. http://www.upi.com/HealthBusiness/view.php?StoryID=20051209-045904-7576r Dog Genome Latest DNA to be Fully Sequenced Bioinformatics is an increasingly important subspecialty of medical and now veterinary informatics. Genetic analysis of pathogens such as avian influenza has become almost routine, and some very specific mammalian haplotypes such as scrapie resistance are important. But as more and more species are sequenced, the ability to manage the resulting data will be a huge area for veterinary informaticists to have an impact. Scientists at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT have sequenced the domestic dog's DNA, thanks to the blood of a boxer named Tasha. http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2005/12.08/01-doggene.html |
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Evidence Based Medicine Symposium We are pleased to announce that the College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, will be hosting the 2nd Symposium on Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine during the week of June 12-16, 2006. This symposium is designed to introduce the concepts of evidence-based practice and outcomes assessment, to demonstrate how these concepts can be taught, and to continue a dialogue among private practitioners, educators, and industry representatives on how we can work together, using these concepts, to identify best clinical approaches in veterinary medical practice. A final announcement of the symposium, including the specifics of the program, will be coming out early in 2006. You can also obtain more specific information about the symposium on our website (http://www.ebvma.org ) shortly after the first of the year. Pre-Announcement Call For
Papers If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to
contact Stanley Robertson, DVM, MPH Two Post-doctoral positions at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine The Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences invites applications for two postdoctoral positions. The first position is a one-year full-time postdoctoral position in infectious disease modeling. The second position is a one-year (renewal up to three years) full-time postdoctoral position in risk analysis/mathematical modeling. For the infectious disease modeling position, the individual hired will join a team of researchers investigating the transmission of multi-drug resistant Salmonella in animal hosts. The position offers excellent opportunities for collaboration in molecular epidemiology, infectious disease and epidemiological modeling, food safety and public health. Individuals with a Ph.D. in mathematical modeling, infectious disease transmission, or analytical epidemiology are encouraged to apply. Computer and mathematical expertise and a strong interest in infectious diseases are required. For the risk analysis/mathematical modeling position, the individual hired will join a team of researchers developing a mathematical model/risk assessment of Listeria monocytogenes transmission from ready-to-eat processing plants to consumers in order to allow improved prediction of effective intervention strategies with regard to overall risk reduction. The position offers excellent opportunities for collaboration
in molecular epidemiology, infectious disease and epidemiological
modeling, food safety and public health. Individuals with a Ph.D.
in mathematical modeling, risk analysis, or analytical
epidemiology are encouraged to apply. Computer and mathematical
expertise and a strong interest in For both positions, applicants should have excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to work effectively with faculty, graduate students and technicians. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. Each position provides health insurance and other university benefits. Apply by sending a cover letter describing your research interests and career goals, a curriculum vitae, and names and contact information for three references to Dr. Lorin D. Warnick (infectious disease modeling position) or Dr. Yrjo T. Grohn (risk analysis/mathematical modeling position). Applications should be sent as a single Microsoft Word or pdf file with a file name consisting of the applicants first and last name. Include "Modeling Post Doc", or "LM Risk Post Doc" in the subject line of e-mails related to these positions, depending on which position you are applying for, and send e-mail to LDW3@cornell.edu (modeling position) or YTG1@cornell.edu (risk analysis position). Evaluation of candidates will begin immediately and continue until the positions are filled. Postdoctoral
Positions The Division of Biomedical Informatics at Mayo Clinic
Rochester, in affiliation with the University of Minnesota, is
pleased to announce the establishment of a joint program for
postdoctoral fellows in informatics. We are presently accepting
applications for positions funded by the National Library of
Medicine (NLM) Fellowship training program with the objective of
preparing for a career in informatics research. Training
opportunities are available in: Applicants should have good communication skills and the ability to work as a part of a team. Applicants must demonstrate the ability to be self-directed, highly motivated and productive, and the ability to work well in a team environment. Postdoctoral trainees must have received, as of the beginning date of the NLM appointment, a Ph.D., M.D. or comparable doctoral degree from an accredited domestic or foreign institution. Fellowships are annually renewable for up to three years, depending on programmatic goals and progress. To be appointed to a training position supported by this NLM research training grant, an individual must be a citizen or non-citizen national of the United States or must have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence. If you are interested in this NLM informatics training program
at a predoctoral level contact: Christopher G. Chute MD, DrPH Mayo Clinic College of Medicine is an affirmative action and equal opportunity Employer and educator. |
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