Strategic Thinking … and Action

By James B. Spies, M.D., MPH, FSIR

SIR 2014–15 President

Advancing a better understanding of both the limitless potential of interventional radiology and its positive impact on patient care will be a main focus during my term as president.

We are very fortunate to have a solid strategic plan guiding our Society and the Foundation toward the ultimate vision of making interventional radiology the first choice in image-guided therapy.  The plan was forged through a highly collaborative process that involved the many voices of IR and considered the many facets of our specialty.

At a tactical level, SIR and the SIR Foundation will continue to organize their efforts around these five key goals: clinical practice, outcomes data, revenue growth, awareness of IR and innovation. As president, my goal is to guide the Society in building on the incredible work that has been done to date across all of these areas. 

Specifically, I am committed to helping SIR make significant progress with these critical initiatives.

• Developing data registries to meet the quality monitoring needs of members and your patients: We have made great strides in the past year and will be testing systems in the coming year.

• Adopting program requirements for the IR/DR pathway and transitioning our current programs to that new standard: SIR fought hard to bring about ABMS approval and enthusiastically supports the changes that are coming in practice and in IR residency training. The program’s implementation will take time, and SIR is committed to ensuring its success. SIR will continue to need your support—and your feedback—as the training program unfolds.

• Starting the PRESERVE trial to study the safety and effectiveness of IVC filters currently in use in this country: Working with the Society for Vascular Surgery, our goal is to ensure the safest practice for patients in our efforts to prevent pulmonary embolus.

• Completing a review of our educational efforts and Annual Scientific Meeting: Our intent is to improve both to better meet your needs in this challenging health care environment.

• Enacting branding initiatives for SIR and SIRF: In another step toward achieving our vision of being the first choice for image-guided treatments we will use coordinated activities to increase awareness among key decision-makers about what IR is, does and achieves; to position SIR as the indispensible expert resource for the specialty; and to show SIR Foundation as the premier scientific body dedicated to advancing IR through research.

This is a very exciting time as we continue to clarify our brand so that we may better articulate the unique strengths and limitless potential of IR. You will hear more about branding this year and its impact on the external voice and face of the SIR and SIR Foundation.

Strategy and goals alone do not bring the Society closer to its envisioned future. That only happens when governing—the work of the Executive Council—becomes a pro-active process.  Another goal of mine is to change our governing operations to focus more on our strategic plan and better monitor the efforts and communications of all divisions of SIR. What does this mean? By effectively transitioning our current model to a new one that leverages focused, proactive planning, greater role clarity and year-round communication, strategy and governing will work even better together—smarter and more efficiently—for you and for IR.

It is an honor to serve as your president. At March’s successful Annual Scientific Meeting in San Diego, we shared ideas with friends and colleagues—all under the theme of “Convergence.” This appropriate theme speaks to IR’s multidimensional nature in daily practice and as a global specialty. It also describes SIR’s collective and confident actions—with you, with IR and with the Society and SIR Foundation. I’ve been involved with SIR for my entire professional life, and I encourage you to volunteer with the Society. Together, we will be able to continue our forward momentum, enhancing our programs to ensure the growth of the specialty, SIR and SIR Foundation.