As a reader of the Journal of Digital Imaging (JDI), you may be interested in some recent changes at Society for Computer Applications in Radiology (SCAR), for which JDI serves as the official scientific journal. Over the last several years, medical imaging science has been radically transformed by advancements in computing hardware, network infrastructure, communication standards, and system integration—a transformation that likely will accelerate for the foreseeable future. The innovative imaging informatics research that has appeared in this journal is no doubt responsible in part for this transformation.
Acknowledging and embracing this transformation, Dr. Richard Morin, the Chair (and by the time you read this, the Past Chair) of SCAR, announced at the organization's recent meeting in Austin, TX, that the SCAR Board of Directors has decided to change the name of the organization to the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM). As the incoming chair of SIIM, I share the enthusiasm that Dr. Morin and the other members of the SIIM board have for this important change. The reality is that the SIIM name no longer accurately represents the organization's mission, which has naturally expanded in response to the recent changes in our field. To illustrate the disparity between the SCAR name and mission, let's take a closer look at the SCAR acronym.
The S in SCAR stands for Society, which appropriately represents the fact that SCAR is a community of individuals with common interests. The people of SCAR and their interactions are the organization's greatest strength. For this reason, the S in SCAR has been preserved in SIIM, reaffirming that SIIM will continue to be a community of professionals who enjoy sharing their mutual interest in the management of imaging information for patient care.
The C in SCAR represents the Computer, which continues to be an essential element of our society's mission. But as technology marches on, it is less and less clear what constitutes a computer, as mobile devices, radio frequency identifiers, and other computing technologies become an integral part of our information infrastructure. The growing diversity of information processing devices makes the term computer seem too restrictive. The term Informatics, while it initially may be unfamiliar to some, is now widely used to denote the broader concept of electronic information management.1 Thus, informatics will continue to represent the organization's ongoing mission, regardless of how computing technology may evolve.
The A in SCAR signifies Applications. There is no question that radiology practices are increasingly dependent on computer applications. Yet today's applications are the progeny of fundamental imaging informatics research. In fact, this fundamental research was conducted over the past few decades by scientific pioneers who published their work in this journal and who served as the founding leaders of SCAR. Likewise, the imaging applications of tomorrow will be derived from thefundamental imaging informatics science of today. Therefore, the notion of computer applications inherent in the SCAR name is better represented by the concept of imaging informatics in the SIIM name, thereby acknowledging the fullspectrum of imaging informatics research, ranging from basic science insights to bedside applications.
The R in SCAR denotes Radiology. The primacy of radiology in the SCAR name reflects the fact that the first imaging informatics applications originated as stand-alone systems exclusively designed for radiology practices. Yet these same technologies now have become a vital part of integrated digital imaging systems that span across the medical enterprise. For example, the electronic imaging systems of the future will serve not only radiologists, but also cardiologists, pathologists, endoscopists, and other medical imaging professionals. And as network infrastructure matures and health information systems become increasingly interconnected, the users of electronic medical record systems will come to expect access to patient images as a routine part of their daily work. Thus, the M in SIIM appropriately stands more broadly for Medicine.
After a careful dissection of the SCAR acronym, the reasons to embrace the new SIIM name are abundantly clear. Rest assured that this name change in no way diminishes SIIM's vigorous support of JDI. On the contrary, the change from SCAR to SIIM reflects a strengthening of the organization's commitment to the transformative digital imaging science found in each issue of this journal. So, on behalf of SIIM, allow me to reintroduce you to the Journal of Digital Imaging, the official journal of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine.
Curtis P. Langlotz, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair
Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine
References
- 1.Shortliffe EH, Cimino JJ, editors. Biomedical Informatics: Computer Applications in Health Care. 3. New York, NY: Springer; 2006. [Google Scholar]