AMIA 2011 Proposals

THE FOUNDATIONS AND APPLICATIONS TRACKS

AMIA 2011 submissions will be categorized as either foundational contributions of novel informatics methods, or as reports of the application of informatics in the biomedical sciences or the day-to-day practice of health care. To help attendees identify sessions in which they are most interested, The SPC will organize accepted submissions into the following themes:

From the time that authors begin to prepare their papers, abstracts, or proposals they should consider whether their principal results and insights would more aptly be presented as a foundational contribution of novel informatics methods, or as a report of the application of informatics in the biomedical sciences or the day-to-day practice of health care. Contributions that emphasize methods should be submitted to the Foundations of Informatics track, chaired by Wanda Pratt. Contributions that emphasize specific problems should be submitted to the Applications of Informatics track, chaired by Chris Lehmann. We believe that almost all contributions to AMIA 2011 will have both foundational and pragmatic elements in them, and in many cases the assignment of papers and tracks will be less than obvious. Authors may be in the best position to make a final decision about track at the time they classify their contribution. After classifying his/her submission according to the method(s) employed and problem(s) addressed, authors who believe that the primary contribution of their work relates to the methods employed should submit to the Foundations track. Authors who believe that the primary contribution relates to the problems addressed should submit to the Applications track. All track assignments by authors will be reviewed by the Scientific Program Committee. The Committee may, in selected cases, change the assignments.

FOUNDATIONS OF INFORMATICS

Foundations of Informatics

This track will emphasize conceptual advances relating to the structure, processing, management, and use of biomedical information. This track presents the results of innovative research on the scientific underpinnings of biomedical and health informatics - highlighting the fundamental advances that lead to new methods and, ultimately, to new applications in support of health care, biological research, and education.

Applications of Informatics

This track emphasizes innovations in the design, technology, implementation, use and evaluation of information systems and knowledge resources across the full spectrum of health care - in acute, ambulatory, and chronic care settings, public health departments, libraries, educational centers, and homes. Contributions to this track should emphasize applications that work in the real world to solve important problems.

Themes

AMIA 2011 will be organized around the following themes:

Clinical Decision Support, Outcomes, and Patient Safety: Sessions will present findings related to the design, development, and implementation of state-of-the-art clinical decision support and its’ effects on clinical quality and patient safety outcomes.
Clinical Research Informatics: Sessions will focus on addressing the critical need for effective information management to address the many challenges facing clinical research and the rapid evolution of the biomedical informatics methods specifically designed to address clinical research information management requirements.
Clinical Workflow and Human Factors: Sessions will focus on the human factors aspects of clinical information system implementation and use that revolves around the clinician’s and clinic’s workflow.
Consumer Informatics and Multimedia PHRs: Sessions will explore Personal Health Records (PHRs) and the consumer perspective in the use of health information science designed to improve patient engagement, medical outcomes, and the health care decision-making process.
Data Integration and Exchange: Sessions will discuss methods that organizations have undertaken to develop and implement various clinical data integration and exchange activities, including use of standard data formats (e.g., continuity of care document or HL7) and vocabularies (e.g., SNOMED, LOINC, ICD-9).
Data Mining, NLP, Information Extraction: Sessions will highlight research and explore the application of data mining, natural language processing, information extraction to all areas of biomedicine to increase the amount of usable data and information that can be accessed from existing clinical patient data bases.
EHRs and Achieving Meaningful Use: Sessions will focus on ways to promote the successful and effective development, implementation, and evaluation of Electronic Health Records as the nation works toward "meaningful use" of these systems.
Global eHealth: Sessions will highlight informatics approaches to Global eHealth challenges and need for scalable HIT solutions, a global informatics workforce, and a scholarly network to support current and future leadership around the world.
Informatics Education and Workforce Development: Sessions will explore effort to create an trained HIT workforce to support the national "build out" of clinical information systems and the informatics contributions embedded within this movement.
Informatics in Clinical Education: Sessions will highlight the application of information technology in health professional education and promote the teaching of informatics as a discipline.
Interactive Systems: Sessions will highlight human-computer interaction (HCI) research, compelling designs, or innovative interactive technologies, including those that improve our understanding of the social and human elements of health technologies.
Policy and Ethical Issues: Sessions will highlight the unprecedented national HIT activity and ethical considerations posed as more practitioners and the public interface with these technologies.
Public Health Informatics and Biosurveillance: Sessions will focus on leading-edge approaches to disease detection, communications, workforce development, standards and interoperability, and best practices to combine the domains of health information science and technology with the practice and science of public health.
Imaging Informatics: Sessions will explore the intersection of imaging science, biomedical engineering and biomedical informatics, including topics such as imaging ontologies, methodologies and techniques of image processing, standards for image information sharing, content-based image retrieval, decision support in image detection and interpretation, integration of genomic and drug information, computer-aided systems, and evaluations of image-based systems.
Simulation and Modeling: Sessions will explore the use of various computer-based simulation and modeling methodologies and tools as they can be applied within the field of biomedical informatics to help researchers and clinicians explore complex healthcare interactions.
Terminology and Standards: Sessions will explore the complex issues surrounding standard syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of design, development and use of various application-specific and general purpose clinical terminologies.
Translational Bioinformatics and Biomedicine: Sessions will focus on opportunities in biomedical informatics that arise from the storage, retrieval, analysis, and dissemination of molecular and genomic information in a clinical setting.

CATEGORIES OF SUBMISSION

The types of submissions considered for AMIA 2011 and general requirements for each are listed on these pages. All submissions must conform to the format and presentation requirements described herein, and at the AMIA 2011 submission site.

PAPERS

The Scientific Program Committee (SPC) solicits paper proposals both on foundational and applied biomedical and health informatics. Authors of accepted papers will have 15 minutes to present their work at the symposium with five minutes for questions and discussion. An individual may be a first author of only one paper submitted for consideration. Proposals must not be in press or under consideration for presentation or publication elsewhere.

In order to better meet the needs of AMIA members, manuscripts may now be between 5-10 (8.5 x 11 inch) pages and must include:

The names, academic degree(s), affiliations, and locations (city, state, and country, if international) of all authors
An abstract of 125-150 words summarizing the submission, which should also be entered into a text box at the beginning of the online form to be used in the online program
A brief introduction, background, methods, results and discussion sections
Optional illustrations (figures or tables)
References, if applicable
A CV for the primary author will need to be uploaded as a separate file ("NIH-style" bio-sketch is preferred).

STUDENT PAPERS

The Scientific Program Committee invites students to submit papers that describe complete or nearly complete research or development efforts in informatics. All designated student papers follow paper format requirements and will first be reviewed through the SPC’s standard review process, along with all other submitted papers. Student papers that are accepted by the SPC will be presented in a regular paper session and included in the Annual Symposium Proceedings.

In addition, all accepted student papers will be referred to the Student Paper Advisory Committee (SPAC) for consideration for student paper awards. Eight student papers will be selected by the SPAC as finalists for the award competition and these eight papers will be presented, at a special session. The eight finalist papers will be presented twice. It is up to the submitting student to ensure that his/her paper is correctly identified as a student paper proposal. Individuals who as of March 1, 2011, are enrolled in a degree granting program or in an academic program such as a medical residency or a post-doctoral fellowship are eligible to enter a paper into the Student Paper Competition. Work performed as part of a large, collaborative effort is acceptable; however, the student paper will be judged on the student’s specific contributions to the project which must be clearly delineated. Only individual students, not groups, may submit papers for consideration in the Student Paper Competition. Preparation of a manuscript must be entirely the work of the student, and single authorship is strongly encouraged. Coauthorship is usually limited to the student’s academic advisor. Entries from international students are encouraged. Papers submitted for consideration in the Student Paper Competition must adhere to the same requirements as described in the papers category, and in addition, student authors must provide in the online form:

The name and address of their training program
Clear identification of the primary advisor/mentor of the student submitting the paper
All co-authors and a description of that particular author's contribution to the work.
An attestation of the student's contribution to the manuscript with respect to the following items: (a) The text of the manuscript itself; (b) The data collected for any analysis; (c) The actual data analysis; (d) The review of the literature; (e) If a system was developed, the role of the student in the coding/development of the system; and (f) The evaluation of the results and the formation of the conclusion
The student will be asked to e-sign an attestation in the online form verifying that all information provided is accurate. This action will generate and email to the primary advisor asking for his/her e-signature as well.

POSTERS

Posters are the preferred format for presenting preliminary research results or results of small scale studies, illustrating and discussing innovative systems and services, describing experimental and in-practice projects and programs, reporting experiences with educational programs, and other dimensions of medical informatics. The poster sessions have been an increasingly vibrant and popular component of the symposium, offering direct access to the authors in a way not possible through podium presentations. Each accepted poster is displayed during one of the 90-minute poster sessions at the symposium. At least one author must be present at the poster session. An individual may be a first author of only one proposal for a poster presentation.

Your uploaded poster manuscript file must be submitted as a one-page (8.5 x 11 inch) document and must include:

The names, academic degree(s), affiliations, and locations (city, state, and country, if international) of all authors.
An abstract of 50-75 words summarizing the submission, which should also be entered into a text box at the beginning of the online form to be used in the online program
A description of the problem addressed and specific purposes of the system, service, or project; or, in the case of original research, an overview of the methodology, evaluation results, and conclusions
Optional illustrations (figures or tables)
References, if applicable

PANELS

Panel topics may be on a specific aspect of theory, application, or experience pertaining to any aspect of biomedical or health informatics, or may provide interdisciplinary viewpoints that cut across traditional themes. Panels should be limited to four participants and a moderator. Panel sessions will typically consist of four 15 minute presentations, each followed by 5 minutes of questions, with 10 minutes for closing discussion. An individual may be the primary organizer of only one panel, and may not participate on more than two panels total.

Your uploaded panel manuscript file must not exceed a maximum of three (8.5 x 11 inch) pages and must include:

The names, academic degree(s), affiliations, and locations (city, state, and country, if international) of the panel organizer and all participants
An abstract of 150-200 words, describing the panel and its learning objectives, which should also be entered into a text box at the beginning of the online form to be used in the online and print programs
A general description of the panel and the issue(s) that will be examined and a brief description of each panelist's presentation
A statement from the panel organizer that all participants have agreed to take part on the panel.
A CV for each presenter will need to be uploaded as separate files ("NIH-style" bio-sketch is preferred).

WORKSHOPS

Workshops, conducted on Saturday evening, are a means of promoting informal discussion among constituents sharing common interests. AMIA encourages proposals for workshops that will bring together individuals with similar or different roles in developing, implementing, or using information technology that changes how we pursue health science or deliver health care.

Your uploaded workshop manuscript file must not exceed a maximum of three (8.5 x 11 inch) pages and must include:

The names, academic degree(s), affiliations, and locations (city, state, and country, if international) of all workshop instructors/speakers
An abstract of 150-200 words summarizing the workshop, which will also be entered into a text box at the beginning of the online form to be used in the online and print programs
A description of the proposed workshop, how it will be conducted, a list of specific educational goals of the workshop, and a description of who should attend

THEATER-STYLE DEMONSTRATIONS

Theater-style demonstrations are presented during program sessions, and most often illustrate one or more aspects of a leading edge system that is in use, under development, or at a testing or prototype stage. Each demonstration is 30 minutes long, with an additional 15 minutes for audience questions and comments. An individual may be a first author of only one proposal for a theater-style demonstration.

Your uploaded theater-style demonstration manuscript file must be submitted as a one page (8.5 x 11 inch) document and must include:

The names, academic degree(s), affiliations, and locations (city, state, and country, if international) of all presenters
An abstract of 150-200 words summarizing the proposal, which will also be entered into a text box at the beginning of the online form to be used in the online and print programs
A description of the specific purposes of the system, service, or project; the problems in health care practice, biomedicine, or research in informatics that it is designed to address; and the purpose or features of the system, service, or project that make it particularly innovative
A statement of the degree to which the system or service has been deployed, as of the date of submitting the proposal

PARTNERSHIPS IN INNOVATION

Partnerships in Innovation are designed specifically to illustrate cases of how industry and their clients can collaborate in research, development, and application for the purpose of solving problems in informatics or through the use of informatics. Each partnership in innovation is 30 minutes long, with an additional 15 minutes for audience questions and comments. The emphasis of the presentation should be on the nature of the collaboration in relation to joint problem-solving among a company and one of its clients. Each presentation in this series must include at least two presenters, with at least one from a company and at least one from a client, with the presentation time divided equally between company and client presenters.

Your uploaded manuscript file must not exceed a maximum of three (8.5 x 11 inch) pages and must include:

The names, academic degree(s), affiliations, and locations (city, state, and country, if international) of all presenters
An abstract of 150-200 words summarizing the proposal, which will also be entered into a text box at the beginning of the online form to be used in the online and print programs
A description and outline of the proposed presentation, a list of specific educational goals, and a description of who should attend

ACMI SENIOR MEMBER PRESENTATIONS

Fellows of the American College of Medical Informatics are invited to submit presentation proposals. These talks, which will be 30 minutes in length with two talks per 90 minute session, provide an opportunity for established leaders in biomedical and health informatics to give a broad talk on a well-developed body of research, an important new research area, a policy proposal, or a thoughtful critique of trends in the field. These presentations should provide a broad view in contrast to regular papers, which typically focus on a specific contribution. These Senior Member Presentations will appear in the AMIA 2011 Annual Symposium Proceedings as part of the "American College of Medical Informatics Distinguished Presentations Series." Senior Member Presentation proposals are limited to Fellows in the American College of Medical Informatics. Your uploaded manuscript file must not exceed two (8.5 x 11 inch) pages and must include:

The names, academic degree(s), affiliations, and locations (city, state, and country, if international) of all presenters
An abstract of 150-200 words summarizing the proposal, which will also be entered into a text box at the beginning of the online form to be used in the online and print programs
A description and outline of the proposed presentation, a list of specific educational goals, and a description of who should attend. Full-length papers are not required, and only the abstracts will appear in the conference program. A limited number of presentations will be accepted, so those submitting proposals should understand that inclusion of their presentation is not guaranteed. Proposals will be reviewed by the American College of Medical Informatics Executive Committee in collaboration with the AMIA 2011 Scientific Program Committee

RECOGNITION OF EXCEPTIONAL REVIEWERS

The Scientific Program Committee will recognize exceptional reviewers for the AMIA 2001 Annual Symposium be announcing their name in the opening session and publishing them on the Proceedings.

We have created these instructions to help you understand what is expected of AMIA Symposium reviewers. The purpose of an Annual Symposium paper review is

To give the authors of the paper feedback about their manuscript, including, most importantly, a description of ways that the manuscript could be improved.
To provide the Scientific Program Committee with an opinion regarding the suitability of the manuscript for the Annual Symposium. The Scientific Program Committee needs to select the best papers that fit within the mission of AMIA to be presented at the Symposium.

In the review process, if you do not feel qualified to review a paper that has been assigned to you, please return it to the Scientific Program Committee so that it can be assigned to another reviewer. You will be asked to provide 5 numerical ratings for the submissions on a scale from 1-5: Importance, Scholarship, Methods, Clarity and Overall Recommendation.

In addition, you will be asked to provide 2 sets of comments for each paper you review: (1) Comments for the Authors and (2) Comments for the Program Committee.

Comments for the Authors
1. Should average one-half page (200-250 words) but may be longer if there are substantive comments to be made.
2. If you are recommending that the paper be rejected, please include at least 2-3 substantive sentences about the key flaws of the paper and / or ways that the paper could be improved for a future submission
3. Comments to the Authors may include:
  1. Comments regarding the suitability of the work for the AMIA audience
  2. How the paper contributes to the field of informatics
  3. Comments regarding whether the context for the work was properly established (i.e., is the literature review adequate, etc.)
  4. Comments regarding the suitability of the methods
  5. Comments regarding the appropriateness of the analyses and the importance of the results
  6. Other comments about how the paper could be improved
Comments to the Program Committee
1. These are to be used if there are summary or confidential comments the reviewer wishes to make to the Committee. The submitting Authors will not see the Comments to the Program Committee.
2. Assuming substantive comments have been made in the Comments to the Authors section, the Comments to the Program Committee may be brief. The Program Committee will see the Comments to the Authors as part of its decision making process.

THE SUBMISSION PROCESS

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: MARCH 17, 2011 11:59 PM EDT (Thursday)

File Format Requirements

Examples

Word format
PDF format

Your manuscript file, as described on the "Select Your Format" page, should be in compliance with the requirements noted below. Papers, posters, theater-style demonstrations, partnerships in innovation and ACMI senior member presentations will appear in the AMIA 2011 Annual Symposium Proceedings. Adherence to the following requirements throughout all categories of submission ensures a consistency that facilitates the review process and proceedings.

File should either be in Word or PDF formats (only).
Be certain to adhere to the page length restrictions stated in the category descriptions.
Format for 8.5 x 11 inch paper size with one inch margins left, right, top, and bottom.
Place the title in 14 point Times Roman typeface, single column, bold, centered, upper and lower case using initial capitals for each word in the title other than articles and prepositions.
Include below the title, the names, credentials, institutions and locations of the author(s) or panelists, exactly as they are to appear in the online and print programs and the Proceedings, using 12 point Times Roman typeface, single column, bold, centered, upper and lower case using appropriate capitals.
Include the main text of the submission single-spaced in 10 point Times New Roman typeface, justified, one-column format. Figures and tables need to be placed as close to the corresponding text as possible (i.e. not at end of manuscript).
Do not number individual pages.
Disable track changes in Word before uploading.

The format of credentials and other author information appearing in the on-line and printed materials is subject to revision by the AMIA office. It is the responsibility of the first author of each proposal to provide full and accurate information about all authors named.

Reference Format

Use the following reference format: Cite all references in the text, tables, or figure legends. In the text, use eight point superscript if possible to indicate reference numbers; if not possible, use 10 point numbers in square brackets. Under a centered heading "References" at the end of the submission, provide a list of references cited, in order of occurrence in the manuscript, and with titles using initial capital only. References must fit within the allotted page(s). List all authors of any cited work when there are six or fewer authors; if more than six, list only the first three followed by "et al." Follow the Vancouver Style see www.icmje.org/index.html.

SUBMISSION DATES

Proposal submissions will be accepted until March 17.

To submit a paper, abstract, or proposal, go to the AMIA 2011 submission site. All submissions must be made through the AMIA 2011 submission site. Complete the on-line submission form as instructed and attach your submission in compliance with directions provided at the AMIA 2011 submission Web site and Call for Participation.

WORKING GROUP SUBMISSIONS

AMIA Working Groups may submit in any one of the categories of submission described in this Call for Participation. Submissions must come from a member of the working group, be sponsored by the working group, and confirmed by the WG Chair, and be clearly identified on the on-line submission form as a specific working group submission. Working group submissions are subject to the same submissions and review requirements, deadlines, and processes as all other submissions in each category. "Submissions from WGs should be the product of working group activities that have taken place over the course of the year. Submissions from working groups, while encouraged, are subject to the same review process and standards as other submissions. Acceptance of submissions from working groups is not assured." See page 9 of the AMIA WG Policies & Procedures Manual for additional details.

INDUSTRY SUBMISSIONS

Industry-authored and industry-client collaborative papers, panels, demonstrations, workshops, posters, and partnerships in innovation are welcome for submission as described above. No special submission designation is required. All industry submissions will follow the existing review processes.

SCOPE AND BREADTH OF THE ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM

Thoughtful classification of your submission greatly enhances the quality of the review that it receives. Using the forms below, you will select a topic track and three subject axes reflecting the methods employed, goals or problems addressed, and overall health care domain or venue. This classification helps to ensure that each submission is reviewed by persons knowledgeable about its content. In addition, it helps greatly in structuring the meeting sessions, allowing better grouping of papers and presentations by area of interest. For the topic track, generally speaking, contributions emphasizing information science or general methods will be part of the Foundations track, while those emphasizing specific designs or application to healthcare problems should be submitted to the Applications track. We recognize that no classification system is perfect and ask you to use your best judgment in making these determinations. You will be asked to select one area of the classification scheme for Axis I and Axis II along with a Topic Track Category that best describes your submission.

Read the Presenter Guidelines.