This interview originally appeared in the November 2011 issue of DOTmed Business News

With RSNA fast approaching, DOTmed Business News was fortunate enough to have RSNA president Dr. Burton Drayer take time out of his busy schedule to provide a look at where the society is today and where it’s headed for the future. Drayer also talked about the professional experience that led him to his current position.

DMBN: How did you become involved in radiology?

Drayer: I am fortunate to be Board Certified in Neurology, Radiology, and Neuroradiology. Early in my career as a Neurologist, I wanted to do research in anatomy and physiology rather than the more traditional neurochemistry research and neuroradiology seemed a perfect outlet. I suppose I am a frustrated architect and the complex architectural structure of the central nervous system seemed very exciting.



DMBN: Are there any aspects of your career you would change if you could?

Drayer: I’m really incredibly satisfied with what I’ve been able to do. My career has permitted me to be a researcher, educator, clinician, administrator and manager. It’s always been exciting and I’ve been very fortunate in always being able to do new things.

DMBN: What has been a high point in your career?

Drayer: My ability to utilize advanced imaging techniques to better and minimally invasively understand contrast materials, regional cerebral blood flow, brain iron, and MRA have been high points of my career. In addition, I have had the good fortune to work at great institutions like University of Pittsburgh, Duke, Barrow Neurological Institute, and Mount Sinai with great people and had the chance to serve my fellow radiologists as President of the ASNR and RSNA.

DMBN: Can you share some of the initiatives you have championed as president of RSNA?

Drayer: Board service at the RSNA involves eight years with my first five years as liaison for Information Technology and the Annual Meeting and Technical Exhibits. Sitting on the Board you better understand and have input into all the educational, research, and information technology initiatives of the society. During my tenure I have always focused on the opportunities for radiology organizations to better collaborate. I am also very proud of the success of the RSNA R & E foundation which will fund 2.7 million dollars for 74 scientific and educational grants this year. I have also attempted to package the vast array of RSNA Information Technology products so that they could play a more vital role in health care whether it is IHE, image sharing, RADLEX, structured reporting, MIRC, or myRSNA.

DMBN: What is unique about the RSNA?

Drayer: RSNA creates the leading educational and scientific materials for all radiologists to share and convenes and provides the meeting place for the most important national or international meeting of radiology professionals and industry on an annual basis. The society has greatly advanced all aspects of imaging and has remained relevant in an era where ideas and innovations are quickly evolving.

DMBN: What’s this year’s show and conference about?

Drayer: The theme of RSNA 2011 is "Celebrate the Image" and how radiology and
radiologists have changed the modern face of healthcare. Recently, pessimism has revolved around complex reimbursement and regulatory issues. Our theme is about the ongoing golden era of radiology related to innovations in CT, MRI, PET, digital X-Ray and ultrasound as well as new preventive and interventional paradigms. Radiologists have been the benefactors of these advances and so we are celebrating the role that they have played in making patient care better, faster, more accurate, and safer.

DMBN: What future role(s) do you intend to play in the society?

Drayer: I hope to remain very involved in the R & E Foundation and continue to promote collaborations among radiology organizations.

DMBN: What advice would you offer for individuals looking to pursue a leadership role with RSNA?

Drayer: People need to volunteer their time and effort in any organization because they believe in its mission and in the case of the RSNA they want to improve the quality of care and skill of every radiologist. Volunteers should enjoy working with people and they will gain the satisfaction of working to help others.

DMBN: What do you believe to be the biggest challenges radiology will face in the future?

Drayer: There are a number of major challenges that will change radiology and how radiologists practice including new payment models and the uncertainty of healthcare reform. We may move to a more service line/institute model and radiologists will collaborate even more closely with clinicians, researchers, and fellow radiologists.

Second, information technology provides both opportunities and threats for our profession. Managing this IT revolution will be an interesting challenge over the next decade.

Radiologists, as patient advocates, will continue to focus on lowering dose. We need to make the public more aware of our pivotal role as well as why we are doing studies like CT scans in such large numbers and how these imaging advances provide safer and more efficient patient care.

The average age of our population continues to increase and we therefore need to do even more research to prevent and treat some of the devastating diseases that become more common as we age. The additional threat to funding of the NIH and Medicare IME funding could have a very negative effect on our academic medical centers. Today, the average life expectancy is 78 years and is much higher than the 60 years when Social Security was first implemented. The long term annual cost of caring for just Alzheimer's patients in 30 years could be up to a trillion dollars. Research into improved prevention and innovative therapies is our only hope for bending this cost curve.

DMBN: Do you anticipate any major developments in the sector in the near future?

Drayer: The spatial, contrast, and temporal resolution of MRI continues to improve and hybrid units combining high resolution technologies will continue to increase. A redefining of diseases will occur related to a combined effort among scientists in genetics, molecular pathology, and imaging. New developments in contrast media and radiopharmaceuticals will continue with the development of even more useful biomarkers. Lower dose CT, X-Ray and angiographic equipment will be used and image guided interventional therapies will increasingly dominate. Finally, we will increasingly be improving local and distant access to patient images and these new image sharing techniques will hopefully contribute to patient dose reduction and cost reduction by obviating the need for unnecessary, repeat imaging studies.