by
Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | November 15, 2021
From the November 2021 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
HCB News: What initiatives have you focused on during your time leading the society?
MM: In my President’s Address, “Redefining Radiology: The Road Ahead”, I plan to highlight a few initiatives that have been a focus of the work I’ve done with RSNA over the years. The first is bringing greater awareness to the very critical role that radiology plays in health care. There’s rarely a patient that comes through our doors that doesn’t have some kind of imaging component as part of their health care journey. Radiologists make such an important, vital contribution to those patients and their medical care every day. I think we need to draw greater attention to that role we play, whether it’s reducing the need for invasive surgery because the CT scan answered the question, or early detection of breast cancer through annual screening, Radiology provides value and saves lives.
There are two other areas I’m particularly passionate about. One is patient-centered radiology. One of the early jobs I had with RSNA was working on the Radiology Cares campaign, which was all about patient-focused radiology care. I’ve spent a lot of time in my department working on that as well.
The other area is about promoting diversity — within our specialty, within our departments and practices, within our Society and within leadership. As a woman, one of my goals has been to help provide equitable, inclusive membership that reflects the needs and diversity of our members.
The RSNA board made some significant changes this year to put out a call for at-large board members. By expanding the board beyond our succession board, we can create a more diverse and inclusive deliberating body, providing an opportunity for younger, or private-practice radiologists to contribute their unique perspectives. While there remains work to be done, we’re making great strides toward more diverse representation on the board, because it’s important.
HCB News: Did you have any other initiatives in mind that changed due to the pandemic?
MM: In my department as in all departments, we had to very quickly shift gears and rethink how we did everything — from teaching the residents, to our daily workflows, to what patients we could image and which exams we had to postpone. It was a lot of work, personally and professionally. At RSNA, it was equally challenging. Obviously, last year we had to pivot very quickly to a fully virtual meeting. For me, the role of president has been to travel and represent the organization in North America and at various meetings all over the world. I traveled — via Zoom — so I’ve been to lots of exciting places, but not in person.
