e-News June 30, 11
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AMIA has officially launched the new AMIA.org. Along with the reveal of its new logo last Fall, AMIA has revamped its online presence with this new online resource, chock full of new content and functionality. Find content that is grouped by domain and presented more visually. The new site is expected to complement AMIA’s membership recruitment efforts. Please bookmark the page and send the link to your associates, prospective members, students, and others interested in informatics and professional development in the field. “AMIA’s informative new portal illuminates the role of informatics as a unique scientific discipline that contributes to the advancement of life science research, healthcare delivery, and better health overall for patients,” said AMIA President & CEO Edward H. Shortliffe in an announcement of the new site. If you have not yet visited, please visit the new AMIA.org TODAY! If you encounter any problems, please use the link at the bottom of each page to let the AMIA webmaster know what may still need correction. The Scientific Program Committee Chairs of the 2012 Joint Summits on Translational Science: Nigam H. Shah, MBBS, PhD, Stanford University, and Michael Kahn, MD, PhD, University of Colorado, Denver, have issued a Call for Proposals to fuel development of both the TBI Summit and CRI Summit, respectively. The Joint Summits are scheduled for March 19-23, 2012, at the Parc 55 San Francisco; a ‘Bridge Day’ on March 21 connects the two meetings with a day of shared content. Important dates:
For more information, visit http://www.amia.org/jointsummits2012 The goal of the AMIA-OHSU 10x10 course is to provide a detailed overview of informatics to those who will work at the interface of healthcare and information technology. It also aims to provide an entry point for those wishing further study (and career development) in the field. The course provides a broad understanding of the field from the vantage point of those who implement, lead, and develop IT solutions for improving health, healthcare, public health, and biomedical research. Register now, course begins July 6! To register, click here. Announcing two 10x10 courses now open for registration:
Also available now through the 10x10 program:
To view any of the above course descriptions, or to register, click here. The 11th International Congress on Nursing Informatics, the official meeting of the IMIA Special Interest Group on Nursing Informatics is being held June 23–27, 2012 in Montréal. The NI2012 theme, Advancing Global Health Through Informatics, emphasizes the vital role that informatics plays in transforming healthcare and promoting health around the world, and will feature twenty topical tracks. The meeting is sponsored by IMIA (International Medical Informatics Association) and hosted by AMIA. First-time authors who do not speak English or others who may require editorial assistance, should take advantage of NI 2012’s pre-submission review process. In recognition of the rapid growth of nursing informatics in the Caribbean and in Latin America, one track will be presented in Spanish with additional Congress elements streamed online as well: the welcome address, the keynote, and the closing address. The deadline for editorial assistance is July 31, 2011. The deadline for all submissions is Aug. 21, 2011. For more information, click here.
The Fifth Annual Academic Forum Conference was held Monday, June 27 in Rockville, Md. The newly formed Academic Forum Executive Committee assisted in forming an ambitious program agenda that generated great discussion from 35 members, representing 25 schools and organizations nationwide. The greatest discussion focused on AMIA’s certification and accreditation. Two motions were passed to facilitate the development of a Task Force focused on AMIA’s certification efforts. This was followed by a robust dialogue about the role and expectations of the Academic Forum in supporting informatics programs in formation, which resulted in another motion passed to investigate the feasibility and resources required to provide guidance to emerging training programs. Stuart Speedie, PhD, University of Minnesota, and chair of the Academic Forum Executive Committee stated, “The 2011 Academic Forum was an exciting and productive meeting that raised the group to a new level of activity addressing important BMHI educational issues, including potential certification of a broad range of informatics practitioners, how AMIA can be of assistance to developing programs, and sponsorship of education-oriented tutorials at the Annual Symposium.” The Forum’s Executive Committee is actively seeking new members. Guidelines for membership can be found at http://www.amia.org/programs/academic-forum. Join Editor-in-Chief Lucila Ohno-Machado and guest author Jyotishman Pathak, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Mayo Clinic meet online to discuss: "Mapping Clinical Phenotype Data Elements to Standardized Metadata Repositories and Controlled Terminologies: the eMERGE Network Experience." Dr. Pathak’s article appears in the July issue of JAMIA, the peer-reviewed research journal that reports on what’s happening in informatics in biomedicine and health six times a year and daily online! The webinar is free to attend: July 7 at 3 p.m. ET, but you must register in advance. Click here to register. Last month, the first in the series of Journal Club webinars, was well attended and met with great reviews:
AMIA members and non-members alike are welcome to participate, and to earn CME credit, too. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is soliciting nominations of potential candidates for the four International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO) Standing Committees: Content; Quality Assurance; Implementation & Innovation (formerly Research & Innovation); and Technical. These Committees have important roles in the ongoing development of the SNOMED CT clinical terminology and in the IHTSDO. Nominations are due by July 14, 2011. For more information, click here. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced this week that up to $500 million in Partnership for Patients funding will be available to help hospitals, healthcare provider organizations, and others improve care and stop millions of preventable injuries and complications related to healthcare acquired conditions and unnecessary readmissions. The funding, made possible by the Affordable Care Act, will be awarded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center. For more information, click here. A new Institute of Medicine (IOM) report sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is urging all levels of the U.S. government to adopt a structured approach to considering the health effects of any major legislation or regulation. The report cites strong evidence indicating that policies beyond the health sector have substantial effects on people’s health. In addition, the report recommends that federal and state policymakers review and revise public health laws so that they adequately address current health challenges. Click here to read the press release, and click here to read the full report. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a new report on how the comparative effectiveness research (CER) funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care of 2010 has been disseminated. To obtain information for the report, GAO interviewed officials from the HHS Office of the Secretary, National Institutes of Health, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). To access the full report, click here. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has developed a draft guidance document to assist industry in conducting appropriate human factors testing and identifying device features that manufacturers should optimize throughout the total product life cycle. The recommendations in the draft document are intended to improve the usability of devices to reduce user error, injuries from medical devices, and product recalls. The FDA believes that the recommendations will help control current risks and reduce future risks associated with device use. For more information, click here. The National Library of Medicine recently launched a new free service, MedlinePlus Connect. The service allows health organizations and health information technology providers to link patient portals and EHR systems to MedlinePlus.gov, a trusted source of authoritative, up-to-date health information for patients, families, and healthcare providers. MedlinePlus brings together information from NIH, other federal agencies, and reputable health information providers. For more information, click here. As of June 30, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is discontinuing its Public Health Emergency Preparedness Research Program (PHEP). AHRQ will continue to work with its federal partners to ensure that emergency preparedness materials developed by the agency remain publicly available to emergency planners and responders in the field. For updates on the new locations for AHRQ's PHEP materials, click here. AMIA has formed a new working group, the Regional Informatics Action Working Group. The working group will focus on activities relevant to AMIA members involved in some capacity with state or regional informatics. Working group members will be led by Chair Neil Sarkar, PhD, University of Vermont, and Vice-Chair Larry Ozeran, MD, University of California, Davis. More information about this working group will be added to the website shortly. AMIA Signature Awards are intended to highlight individuals whose work has embodied the innovative spirit of informatics and created lasting effects by transforming both the healthcare system and biomedical research. Signature Awards provide a path of recognition for the immeasurable talent AMIA’s membership holds by showcasing their rich history of achievement. AMIA seeks nominations for the following awards:
Award recipients will be recognized at the Annual Symposium. Nominations should be submitted to Jeff Williamson, AMIA Vice President, Education and Academic Affairs, by email to jeff@amia.org by Wed., July 20, 2011. For more information, click here. The University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom is conducting a global search to recruit up to 50 Birmingham Fellows. The Birmingham Fellows will be outstanding post-doctoral researchers who are on a trajectory to become the next generation of research and academic leaders. The Birmingham Fellowships have been designed to support the Fellows as they establish themselves as rounded and mature academics at the University of Birmingham. The Fellowships will be five-year appointments, giving the Fellows the time they need to engage in serious research and to establish themselves within the academic community at Birmingham, nationally and internationally. The goal is to cultivate the next generation of Birmingham academics. Therefore, Fellows who meet their potential and perform according to the expectations agreed at the beginning of their fellowship term will be offered a permanent post at the end of the fellowship term. If you have any questions, please email, birminghamfellows@contacts.bham.ac.uk. For more information, click here. Many of you have heard about AMIA’s efforts to promote the creation of a subspecialty board examination in clinical informatics. The American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM), which has officially proposed the subspecialty certification to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), has successfully moved the proposal through the approval process and has recently established a partnership with the American Board of Pathology, which has chosen to cosponsor the proposal. Although the final vote is not expected until the Sept. 2011 meeting of the ABMS, the ABPM has asked AMIA to forward the names of potential members of the committee who will develop questions for the board examination, which will likely be administered (as a written test) for the first time in the Autumn of 2012. The two sponsoring boards will select the exam committee members, but they are grateful for suggestions from AMIA. Therefore, AMIA is requesting self-nominations from members who would like to be considered for a position on the examination committee. AMIA cannot guarantee that all nominees will be appointed to the committee by ABPM and ABP. If you are interested in serving on the questions committee, and guiding the co-sponsoring boards on the criteria and metrics that are appropriate for board certification in this area, please send the following to Jeff Williamson (jeff@amia.org) no later than July 22. Please include:
Eligibility is open to all AMIA members who have expertise in applied clinical and/or public health informatics. Although the ABMS subspecialty certification will be available only to board-certified physicians in one of the clinical specialties, examination committee members need not be physicians if they have the pertinent expertise and experience. Questions may also be directed to jeff@amia.org. For more information, click here. Health Improvement Institute launched the Award for Excellence in Human Research Protection in 2002 to encourage and to recognize excellence and innovation in human research protection. Awards are given for demonstrated excellence in promoting the well-being of people who participate in research. The Office for Human Research Protections of the Department of Health and Human Services was the founding sponsor of the Awards program. Any institution or investigator who conducts research involving human beings, including medical and social science research, or who contributes to human research protection, is eligible to apply for an Award. The Institute has established three annual Awards and announces recipients in December:
Individuals or institutions may apply for one or more Awards in any number of categories. Applications must be received at Health Improvement Institute on or before Sept. 26, 2011. If you have any questions, send an email to hii@hii.org. Please forward this information to colleagues.   July 1 July 7 July 10 Aug. 4 Aug. 4 Aug. 19 Aug. 26-27 Aug. 28-31 Sept. 1 Sept. 7-10 Oct. 6 Oct. 6 Oct. 21 Oct. 22-26 Nov. 3 Dec. 6 Dec. 16 |
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