AMA names ED physician Stack president-elect

The American Medical Association (AMA) has named Steven J. Stack, M.D., as the next president of the association. When Stack assumes office in June 1015, he will be the youngest AMA president in 100 years.

Stack also holds the distinction of being the first emergency physician to serve on the AMA board. He has served as the AMA board chair as well as elected positions in many state, national and medical societies. He has served as medical director of the emergency departments of St. Joseph East in Lexington, Ky. and St. Joseph Mt. Sterling in rural eastern Kentucky, and Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

In addition to his leadership and medical credentials, Stack brings with him an expertise in health information technology (HIT). In addition to serving as chair of the AMA’s HIT Advisory Group from 2007 to 2013, Stack sat on multiple advisory groups for the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT, including the Information Exchange, PCAST Report, and Strategic Plan Workgroups.

Stack graduated magna cum laude from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Born and raised in Cleveland, he returned to Ohio here he completed his medical school education and emergency medicine training at the Ohio State University before moving to Memphis to begin his clinical practice. In 2006, he and his family relocated to Lexington.

Stack and wife Tracie, a board-certified pediatric allergist, have a 9-year-old daughter.

Cheryl Proval,

Vice President, Executive Editor, Radiology Business

Cheryl began her career in journalism when Wite-Out was a relatively new technology. During the past 16 years, she has covered radiology and followed developments in healthcare policy. She holds a BA in History from the University of Delaware and likes nothing better than a good story, well told.

Around the web

The patient, who was being cared for in the ICU, was not accompanied or monitored by nursing staff during his exam, despite being sedated.

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.