Maintaining the Public Trust - The American Board of Radiology

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Reports from ABR Divisions• To offer future Western region examinations at theTucson Board office; this decision was a compromisebetween geographic convenience (Californialocation) and fiscal responsibility (space in ownedproperty).• To commit resources to ensure that an examinationcontent database will be operational in early 2012; toaccomplish this goal, several temporary employeeshave been hired for approximately eight months.• To increase ABR personnel to meet expressed needsof diplomates and the volunteers who provideneeded certification services.These changes have resulted inthe need for a construction projectto create a large exam center andadditional spaces for needed staff.These changes have resulted in the need for a constructionproject to create a larger exam center and additionalspaces for needed staff. Existing space, whichwas previously leased or used for other purposes, will beremodeled.Communications and Editorial ServicesThe Communications and Editorial Services Division isresponsible for ABR external communications and examinationitem editing. During the past fiscal year, thedivision edited approximately 12,000 items, made itemwritingpresentations at volunteer committee orientationmeetings, and attended test assembly meetings.Two issues of the ABR’s newsletter, The Beam, and the2009-10 Annual Report were emailed to the ABR’s listof 27,000 diplomates, candidates, program directors,and radiology societies. The division also distributed 10internal electronic newsletters and conducted surveysregarding The Beam, MOC communications, and thetrustee newsletter.Updating content for the ABR website is anotherdivision responsibility. In 2010, the three ABR associateexecutive directors and the communications directorreviewed and edited the entire website. In addition tochanges from this annual audit, more than 200 updateswere coordinated throughout the year. Along with theABR IT director, the communications director is a memberof a volunteer-run committee on website redesign.In the area of media relations, the division distributed16 press releases and responded to numerous informationalrequests from reporters, societies, journals, andthe American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).The communications director is an active member ofthe ABMS Communicators’ Network. Other interestingprojects included the ABR time capsule, an MOCparticipation pin, publications for the ABR informationalbooth at society meetings, various ABR Foundationresponsibilities, and research on social media.Digital ImagingThe Digital Imaging Division is responsible for developing,maintaining, and establishing standards for allof the ABR’s multimedia assets, including images andvideo files. During the 2010-11 fiscal year, the divisionhosted more than 10 oral exam committee meetings,assembled and administered two oral exams, processedall imaging requests submitted by the Core/Certifying/MOC committees, and processed roughly 5,000 newimages for use on the oral exam.In addition to processing all finalized content, the divisionis responsible for “scrubbing” all raw content toremove patient health information (PHI). This past yearsaw an unusually high amount of this activity, due inpart to a raw submission of 30,000 files that requiredscrubbing. The ABR’s newly instituted Health InsurancePortability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) policies andprocedures are functioning well, and thus far volunteerfeedback has been largely positive.Digital Imaging is considered a member division ofthe ABR Standards Division and cooperates with theother member divisions (Psychometrics/Evaluation andCommunications/Editorial Services) to create standardsfor the ABR. This past year, the Standards Divisiondeveloped standards for volunteer exam developmentcommittee meeting support, exam monitor calibration,and mammography layout and labelling for ABR exams.Other projects involving Digital Imaging personnelincluded the ABR Testing Organization and ManagementSystem (ATOMS) rollout project, the ATOMScoding project, the new ABR Chicago Exam Center, andremodeling of the Tucson Exam Center.16
Information TechnologyLooking back over the last year, the focus in the InformationTechnology (IT) Division can be described bythe words availability, scalability, accountability, andpreparation. The 2010-11 fiscal year saw many changesin ABR systems, but the real emphasis was on preparationfor the future.The ATOMS project, which will provide the infrastructurefor the management of exam material, from volunteersubmission to final exam creation, was a primaryfocus. Trustee Duane Mezwa, MD, led the efforts of theBoard to provide guidance regarding ATOMS development.The Board bears the ultimate responsibility formeeting the needs of the volunteers who generateexam content and for managing the ABR’s resources tomost efficiently achieve the needed results.ABR volunteers participated in two pilot phases forATOMS in 2010 and provided critical feedback to ensurea successful launch of the ATOMS software. Thanks tothe efforts of the volunteers and staff dedicated to theproject, as well as the ABR trustees, the ATOMS softwarewill be rolled out in early 2012.IT infrastructure for the Exam of the Future took centerstage as preparations began to lease, equip, staff, andadminister ABR examinations in two newly designedexam centers in Chicago and Tucson. The Board’s TestCenters Task Force, under the leadership of TrusteeJeanne LaBerge, MD, provided the strategic and policyguidance for this crucial effort to create the best possibletesting environment for candidates and diplomateswho will take image-rich examinations. DR MOC examswill be administered in the Chicago center beginning in2012 and in both centers in 2013, and the newly designedCore and Certifying exams will be administeredin both centers beginning in late 2013.In addition to many enhancements to ABR systems, theABR software development team has been laying thegroundwork for major updates to both internal andexternal systems (such as the Personal Database, orPDB). Many behind-the-scenes “Phase I” efforts werecompleted, providing the infrastructure for more visiblechanges in the near future.To assist with defining the vision and direction for futuretechnology initiatives, the ABR formed the InformationTechnology Advisory Committee (ITAC). Under theleadership of ABR Trustee Richard Morin, PhD, ITACconsists of four subcommittees with specific areasof focus: Personal Database, chaired by Paul Chang,MD, with Trustee Liaison Ella Kazerooni, MD; Website,chaired by William Boonn, MD, with Trustee LiaisonDuane Mezwa, MD; Key Performance Indicators/DataWarehouse, chaired by Trustee Lane Donnelly, MD,with Trustee Liaison Jack Crowe, MD; and ExaminationTechnologies, chaired by Keith Dreyer, DO, PhD, withTrustee Liaison Mary Mahoney, MD. The volunteerswho work on these subcommittees bring expertise andnew levels of insight to building the vision for futureABR systems.Throughout the year, the IT Division also designed andbuilt an infrastructure to ensure high availability for ABRproduction systems. Leveraging storage area networks(SANs) and a highly virtualized server deployment, thehigh availability infrastructure will be fully deployedin late 2011, and capped off by the migration of theproduction servers to a five nines (99.999% uptime) colocationdata center facility. This architecture providesthe scalability and flexibility to accommodate increasingdemands on ABR systems, as well as the redundanciesrequired to ensure maximum uptime.ATOMS will provide the infrastructurefor the management of exammaterial, from volunteer submissionto final exam creation.Finally, the ABR has designed, developed, and implementeda robust set of internal controls that providethe framework for managing and deploying its systems.These controls define the repeatable processes thatensure predictable results for all system deployments.Looking ahead, the ABR anticipates more challengesand opportunities to adjust its systems to the meet thechanging requirements in medicine, and radiology inparticular. The steps already taken, along with plannedenhancements for next year, ensure the ABR’s abilityto meet these challenges and provide an efficient andeffective diplomate experience.Psychometrics and EvaluationDuring the 2010-11 fiscal year, the Psychometrics andEvaluation Division scored 32 computerized (“written”)(continued on Page 18)17
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