Founded | Chicago, IL, US |
---|---|
Founder | Mike Hoaglin, Dave Kelso, Matt Glucksberg, Michael Diamond |
Type | 501(c)(3) Non-profit Organization |
Focus | Low-cost medical imaging, X-ray, Health Information technology, sustainability |
Location | |
Area served
|
Worldwide |
Key people
|
Newton N. Minow, Chair of the Board Michael W. Ferro, Jr., Vice Chair Ivy Walker, CEO |
Slogan | One digital image can save a life |
Website | worldhealthimaging.org |
The World Health Imaging, Telemedicine and Informatics Alliance (WHITIA) is a non-profit global health technology and social venture established in 2006 by affiliates of Northwestern University near Chicago, Illinois. WHITIA cultivates high-level strategic relationships with non-governmental organizations, imaging industry innovators and academic institutions in order to integrate and deliver meaningful, sustainable, diagnostic technology to underserved communities worldwide. WHITIA’s vision is to facilitate the deployment of thousands of digital medical imaging systems worldwide, providing one billion people with access to diagnostic imaging. WHITIA was formerly known as the World Health Imaging Alliance (WHIA) until it formally expanded its scope in June 2009.
WHITIA's first formal public launch was in April 2009 at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference & Exhibition in Chicago, Illinois. WHITIA announced strategic partners including SEDECAL, Carestream Health and Merge Healthcare, receiving extensive coverage in Health IT magazines and publications. At the 2009 Annual Conference of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) in Charlotte, North Carolina, WHITIA announced its partnership with SIIM, which will allow both organizations to collaborate on specific initiatives. WHITIA was recently ranked #15 of the top 25 most influential people, institutions, and organizations in the radiology industry.
At the 2009 RSNA Annual Meeting, WHITIA launched, Remi-d, a remote-operated screening X-ray system for use in the developing world. Its strengths in these areas stem from the higher burden of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Tuberculosis (TB) co-infection, high incidences of Black Lung disease, or outbreaks of other infectious respiratory diseases. The teleradiology and remote-controlled features of Remi-d allow resource-limited areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central America and Southeast Asia, where Radiologists and Radiographers are in short supply to have a functioning X-ray service.