New York State Radiological Society

SUMMER 2022

NYSRS Spring/Summer 2022 Update

From our President:

This has been a busy spring and beginning of the summer for the New York State Radiological Society. From our all-members meeting (which included the timely CME program on cybersecurity and surprise billing), to the American College of Radiology’s annual meeting, to the busy legislative session in Albany, our society continues to work on behalf of all our members and the patients we care for.

Included in this update are many of the recent accomplishments of our society and our members. I thank each and every member who has participated in the NYSRS. Your time, energy, and ideas have made these efforts and successes possible. While grateful, I just can’t help but imagine how much we could achieve if even more of our members participated in some way. With so many ways to do so, some of which are listed below, I am hopeful that everyone can find a way to contribute to continues success of our professions in NYS.

Ways to contribute

• Join a committee
• Participate in an open mic session at an all members meeting
• Respond to an e-mail call to action
• Contribute to our NYS Political Action Committee (at the state level even a small donation makes a big difference)
• Make a donation to our Foundation to support the development of our next generation of leaders
• Participate in an event (e.g. the upcoming NYSRS Hackathon !!!)
• Serve as a membership advocate in you practice

Finally, every one can contribute by letting us know what the society can do for you and your practices. I encourage everyone to reach out. 

Keith Hentel, MD MS FACR

President, NYSRS

keh9003@med.cornell.edu

Have fun, solve problems, network and win prizes!

The First NYSRS Radiology Hackathon

SAVE THE DATE

The NYSRS will be holding our first Virtual Hackathon on Thursday September 15, 2022 from 4pm – 9pm. Registration is free and no computer or technical skills are required. 

Partnering with experts at Cornell University in Ithaca, this our hackathon will leverage “hacking” in its most positive context — leveraging the experience and perspectives power to create outside-the-box solutions (“hacks”). Utilizing the skills and perspectives of our members, members from other states, students, and others in our field to form diverse teams and generate ideas and solutions in a constrained amount of time. 

More details to follow but for those interested in learning more about non-technical hackathons our partner's website is :  https://eship.cornell.edu/all-events/hackathons/

Recognition of Excellence & Innovation - NYSRS is #1 !!

Congratulations to our society for being winning the ACR’s Chapter Recognition Award for “Overall Excellence” for the second year in a row!! 

This recognition is awarded to the state chapter that demonstrates excellence in every one of the individual award categories including government relations, meetings & education, membership, and quality & safety.

NYSRS: Ahead of the Curve

After years in the making, an ACR Resolution supporting paid family/medical leave -- which the New York State Radiological Society (NYSRS) co-sponsored -- became formal ACR policy on April 26, 2022 at the annual meeting in Washington DC, resolving that “the American College of Radiology (ACR) recommends that diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology, radiation oncology, medical physics, and nuclear medicine practices, departments and training programs strive to provide 12 weeks of paid family/medical leave in a 12-month period for its attending physicians, medical physicists, and members in training as needed.”

The NYSRS was one of 15 ACR state chapters, including Washington DC & Puerto Rico, and in addition to the American Association for Women in Radiology (AAWR), American College of Radiology (ACR) Board of Chancellors (BOC), Council Steering Committee (CSC), Young and Early Career Professional Section, the Resident and Fellow Section, and CARROS (Council of Affiliated Regional Radiation Oncology Societies) to co-sponsor the aforementioned resolution. 

This resolution is important because paid family/medical leave benefits practices & departments, individuals of all genders and ages, and society as a whole; furthermore, potential savings can outweigh costs when recruitment and retention are factored into the equation, issues particularly important given the current state of the radiology job market. For more information on cost coverage and benefits:

https://www.clinicalimaging.org/article/S0899-7071(22)00087-0/fulltext

“I am very happy that New York was one of the first three state radiological societies – along with Utah and Kentucky – to co-sponsor the paid family/medical leave resolution,” wrote Elizabeth Kagan Arleo MD, FACR, Professor of Radiology at Weill Cornell Medicine in Manhattan, one of the co-authors of the resolution, who worked closely with Meredith Englander MD, FACR, Medical Director at CDPHP in Albany, NY, previous NYSRS Councilor and current AAWR Secretary, on resolution efforts. The ACR represents nearly 41,000 diagnostic radiologists, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists, therefore “the positive impact of this new ACR paid family/medical leave policy will be huge, for current and future members of our specialty and their families,” wrote Dr. Arleo.  Kasia Macura MD, PhD, FACR, Professor of Radiology, Urology and Oncology at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD and a 2022 ACR Gold Medal Winner was similarly thrilled, tweeting, “Monumental achievement towards the normalization of parental, caregiver, and medical leave.”

Well done, NYSRS, for co-sponsoring this monumental resolution.

Making a Difference - NYSRS Lobby Day

Thanks to all who participated in our 2022 Lobby Day on May 3rd. Members from our society met with over ten offices and elected and officials to provide information and opinions on key legislation being considered in Albany. The bills discussed this year included those pertaining to scope of practice for non-physician providers, pre-authorization reform, medical malpractice, billing, and the ability of health care providers and practices to have the ability to be able to collectively negotiate with payers.

We also thank our colleagues at the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) who joined us for these sessions.

More Than Just Lobby Day - Getting our message out!!

Funded by a grant from the American College of Radiology, the NYSRS has increasingly used social media and digital media to get our message out to our lawmakers in Albany and to the public.

One of these efforts targeted the Empire Report, a daily news and information briefing favored by members of the NYS legislature and their staff. This digital campaign was a large success with recent numbers indicating 4,932,357 impressions, 12,375 hovers, and over 500 clicks from people wanting to learn more.

NYS Celebrates our newest Fellows

Congratulations to our members who received the honor of fellowship in the ACR at the 2022 ACR meeting

Oguz Akin - Kemi Babagbemi - Jane Bennett - Ermilinda Bonaccio      

Drew Caplin - John Carrino - Joseph Comunale - Michele Drotman - Brian Gale

Scott Gerst  - Kathleen Halton  - Betsy Jacobs  -  Maxine Jochelson  

Evan Kaminer - Claudia Kirsch  -  Yvonne Lui -  Melanie Moses -  Linda Moy

Joseph Osborne -  Zina Ricci -  Andrew Rosenkrantz - David Sarkany  

Emil Shih - George Shih - Beverly Thornhill - Stan Weiss

NYSRS Spring All Members Meeting

The NYSRS held our all members meeting on April 9th. In addition to providing updates on the work of our committees and sections, the meeting highlights included a lecture on cybersecurity and our first open mic session where members were encouraged to ask questions and provide their own perspective on imaging economics. Thanks to Brian Tschinkel , the director of information security for Weill Cornell Medical College, and Dr. Gregory Nicola, the chair of the ACR Economics Committee for providing their time and expertise. 

The fall all members meeting will be held on Saturday [add date]. If there are topics that are important to you and your practice, please let us know by using the following link:

NYSRS Suggestion Box

From our Spring Meeting -  Cybersecurity Facts and Strategies

The first instance of Ransomware was created by Dr. Joseph Popp, an evolutionary biologist and AIDS researcher, who mailed 20,000 floppy disks worldwide in December 1989.

Over the past 5 years, the FBI has reported 2.76 million complaints of cybercrime with losses estimated at $18.7 billion.  This includes nearly $2.4 billion lost in business email/email account compromise attacks.

Healthcare and Public Health sector highest victimized by ransomware and New York ranked #4 in number of victims (29,605) and #3 in amount of loss ($560 million)

Phishing and Hacking are the most common means of attack with 94% targeting company e-mail addresses and 45% having a malicious attachment.

Strategies that we and our practices can employ to protect ourselves include:

• Keep your Software Up to Date - updates contain the latest security protections
• Enable your operating systems built in security features (e.g. Apple or Windows firewalls, hard drive encryption)
• Install an anti-malware/anti-virus product and keep it updated
• Backup data regularly and keep an offline copy
• Use a password manager as you:
• Only have to remember 1 master password to unlock the vault
• You can generate unique passwords for every website
• You can have secure access to your passwords anywhere
• You can get rid of those Excel spreadsheets or sticky notes
• You can share important accounts securely with your family
• Use 2 factor authentication when possible

2022 NYSRS Gold Medal Award

Congratulations to Dr. Ellen Wolf who received the NYSRS Gold Medal Award at our Spring Meeting. 

The Gold Medal is the highest honor from the NYSRS intended to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to our society, our profession, and most importantly the patients we serve.

Dr. Wolf is a Professor of Radiology at Einstein and the Chief of Gastrointestinal Radiology / Vice Chair of Radiology at Montefiore Medical Center. Along with her clinical contributions, Dr. Wolf has published close to 50 papers and been invited to deliver over 180 lectures. Throughout her career she has been an active participant in our society, the New York Roentgen Society, and the ACR serving in many roles and on many committees. She currently chairs the NYSRS nominating and fellowship committees and it is no coincidence that NYS has set the all-time record for members receiving fellowship under her leadership. She has been and continues to be an advocate and an inspiration to all the members of our organization.

From the chair of our newest section - Nuclear Medicine

The New York State Radiological Society recently initiated a Nuclear Medicine Committee. I would like to welcome all of those who have an interest in Nuclear Medicine and those who are practicing Nuclear Radiologists and Nuclear Physicians to join this new committee to further unite physicians in Nuclear Medicine within New York State. This Committee can be a place where we can network within our nuclear neighborhood. In this way we can get to better know each other and increase our regional dialogue regarding our practices, education, interests and concerns in Nuclear Medicine science and practice.

We are entering a moment for Nuclear Medicine of previously unrealized prominence in medical care. This is an exciting time for all of us who love working in this field, an era which especially elevates our specialty practice in the field of Oncology. As our field is becoming more visible to more people in more places, there are continual challenges to answer increased expectations from Nuclear Medicine practice. Nuclear Medicine faces exigent evolving challenges. There are new pressures focused upon altering the training and experience requirements, including by entities who stand to profit from increased utilization of theranostic radiopharmaceuticals, and some who continue efforts to lessen those requirements, which could have a detrimental effect on our field and her patients. We continue to advocate for Nuclear Medicine imaging and therapy to be directed by optimally and appropriately trained physicians.

I would like all of my NYSRS colleagues practicing Nuclear Medicine to join this committee to see how we can best represent the interests of our patients, our specialty and of the science of Nuclear Medicine within our state and within our American College of Radiology. We invite you to share your experience and ideas and advocacy related to the practice of Nuclear Medicine and the evolving field of Theranostics. You may join by sending us your name and preferred email address to unitedradiology@yahoo.com . Thank you.

Alan K. Klitzke, MD, FACNM, FACR

Chair, New York State Radiological Society Nuclear Medicine Committee

Interested in Leadership/Networking

The NYSRS is a great way to make connections and gain experience in organized radiology/leadership while working to better our profession. Serving on one of our committees/sections (listed below) is a great way to work towards a fellowship in the ACR (FACR). Our committees and sections include:

• 
  
• ACR Fellows
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Economics
• Finance
• Governmental Affairs
• Membership
• Physics
• Quality & Safety
• Residents & Fellows
• Social Media/Communications
• Ethics
• Breast Imaging
• Interventional Radiology
• MSSNY
• Radiation Oncology
• Young Professionals

Interested in participating in the society on any of the above?

Reach out to Dr. Keith Hentel at keh9003@med.cornell.edu . Please provide information on what committee/section(s) you are interested in joining.