June
25, 2002
PROCEDURES
for the
DICOM
Standards Committee
1 Scope of the DICOM Standards
Committee
Numerous and diverse medical specialties
create biomedical images. The DICOM
Standards Committee exists to create and maintain international standards for
the communication of biomedical, diagnostic and therapeutic information in
those medical disciplines that use digital images and associated data.
The goal of the DICOM Standard is to achieve
compatibility and improve workflow efficiency between imaging systems and other
information systems in healthcare environments worldwide.
DICOM is a cooperative standard. Connectivity works because vendors cooperate
in testing via scheduled public demonstrations, over the Internet, and during
private test sessions. Every major
diagnostic medical-imaging vendor in the world has incorporated the standard
into its product design, and most are actively participating in the enhancement
of the standard. Most biomedical
professional societies throughout the world support and participate in the
enhancement of this standard.
Proposed standards are developed by working
groups reporting to the Committee and are approved by the members of the
Committee. Standards are published by
the secretariat and are international in scope. The Committee is proactive to assure compatibility with related
standards developed by other standards-developing and coordinating bodies such
as ANSI, CEN, HL7, IEC, ISO and JIRA.
2 Membership
The Committee consists of its members and
the secretariat. Membership in the
Committee consists of manufacturing companies, service organizations,
consulting companies, biomedical professional organizations, trade
associations, other standards-developing organizations and government agencies
worldwide that have a direct and material interest in the activities of the
Committee.
The addition or termination of members shall
be subject to approval by vote of the Committee as provided in this section.
2.1 Responsibility of
Committee Members
The Committee members are responsible for:
a) Developing proposed standards within the scope of the
Committee;
b) Voting to approve proposed standards within its
scope;
c) Maintaining the Committee’s standard by reaffirming,
revising or withdrawing the standard within five years of its approval;
d) Responding to requests for interpretations of the
Committee’s standard;
e) Adopting Committee policy and procedures and
revisions thereof;
f)
Considering and acting
on proposals for termination of the Committee and
g) Other matters requiring Committee action as provided
in these procedures.
2.2 Application
A request for membership shall be addressed
to the secretariat and shall indicate the:
a) Applicant’s direct and material interest in the
Committee’s work;
b) Applicant’s qualifications and willingness to participate
actively;
c) Interest category of the applicant and
d) Identification of a principal representative (and
alternate(s), if desired).
2.2.1 Recommendation
The secretariat shall make a recommendation
to the Committee for action on applications for membership it receives. In recommending appropriate action to the
Committee, the secretariat shall consider the:
a) Need for active participation by each interest;
b) Potential for dominance by a single interest
category;
c) Extent of interest expressed by the applicant and the
applicant’s willingness to participate actively and
d) The representative identified by the applicant
organization, company, or government agency.
The secretariat may consider reasonable
limits on Committee size.
2.2.2 Diverse Interests
If distinct divisions of an organization can
demonstrate independent interests and authority to make independent decisions
in the area of the activity of the Committee, each may apply for membership.
2.2.3 Combined Interest
When appropriate, the secretariat may
recommend that the applicant seek representation through an organization that
is already a member and represents the same or similar interest.
2.2.4
Review of Membership
The secretariat shall review the membership
with respect to the criteria of this section.
Members are expected to fulfill obligations of active participation and
maintaining current payment of dues.
If any member of the Committee is not
represented at two consecutive meetings of the Committee, the member will not
be counted in the determination of a quorum for the next meeting at which it is
not represented. After the second
meeting where the member is not represented, the secretariat shall notify the
member in writing. The member’s
representative may vote at the next meeting that he or she does attend.
Members shall be suspended from the
Committee if they do not pay their dues within three months of the invoice
date. Suspended members have no voting
rights in committee meetings or letter ballots. Suspended members will be reinstated if dues are received within
six months of the invoice date.
Members shall be terminated from the
Committee if they do not pay their dues within six months of the invoice
date. Terminated members may be
reinstated only by vote of the Committee.
2.2.5 Observers
Individuals and organizations having an
interest in the Committee’s work may request listing in the Committee’s roster
as observers (mailers).
Observers shall be advised of the Committee
activities, may attend meetings and may submit comments for consideration, but
they shall have no vote.
2.2.6 Interest Categories
All appropriate interests that might be
directly and materially affected by the standards activity of the Committee
shall have the opportunity for fair and equitable participation without
dominance by any single interest. Each
member shall propose its own interest category as appropriate and in accordance
with the Committee's established categories.
Members are classified into the following
interest categories: producers, users, and general interest.
The interest categories may be revised by a
vote of the Committee upon recommendation of the secretariat. The rationale for the selection of
categories shall be included in the Committee ballot.
2.3 Member Affiliation
2.3.1 Producers
Any manufacturing company, service
organization or consulting company that wishes to participate in standards
development within the scope of the Committee may apply for membership on the
Committee.
Each company or service organization elected
to membership shall designate one principal voting representative to represent
it on the Committee. One or more
alternate representatives may also be designated.
Each member company or service organization
shall have a single vote in the business of the Committee.
Manufacturing companies, service
organizations and consulting companies elected to membership shall be
classified as producer members.
2.3.2 Biomedical Professional
Organizations
Any biomedical professional organization
that wishes to participate in standards development within the scope of the
Committee may apply for membership on the Committee.
Each biomedical professional organization
elected to membership shall designate one or more voting representatives to
represent it on the Committee, providing that representatives from any single
organization do not compose more than 20% of the total membership in the
Committee.
Each person who represents a biomedical
professional organization shall have one vote in the business of the Committee.
Biomedical professional organizations elected
to membership shall be classified as user members.
2.3.3 Trade Associations
Any trade association that is not, also, a
standards-developing organization and wishes to participate in standards
development within the scope of the Committee may apply for membership on the
Committee.
Each member association shall designate a
principal voting member to represent it on the Committee. One or more alternate representatives may
also be designated.
Each member association shall have one vote
in the business of the Committee.
Trade associations elected to membership
shall be classified as producer members.
2.3.4 Standards-Developing
Organizations
Any standards-developing organization that
wishes to participate in standards development within the scope of the Committee
may apply for membership on the Committee.
Each standards-developing organization
elected to membership shall designate one principal voting representative to
represent it on the Committee. One or
more alternate members may also be designated.
Each standards-developing organization
elected to membership on the Committee shall have one vote in the business of
the Committee.
Standards-developing organizations elected
to membership may be classified either as producers or as general interest
members.
2.3.5 Government Agencies
Any government agency that wishes to
participate in standards development within the scope of the Committee may
apply for membership on the Committee.
Each government agency elected to membership
on the Committee shall designate one voting representative to represent it on
the Committee. One or more alternate
members may also be designated.
Each government agency elected to membership
on the Committee shall have one vote in the business of the Committee.
Government agencies elected to membership
shall be classified as either users or general interest members.
2.4 Dues
Dues are determined annually based on an
annual budget and operating plan. Dues
are collected and administered by the secretariat. Dues are based on the categories of membership.
3 Committee Structure
3.1 Officers
There shall be two co-chairs – one
representing a producer and one representing a biomedical professional
organization.
Each co-chair shall serve a two-year term
and may serve no more than two consecutive terms. The terms of the co-chairs shall expire in alternate years.
At the meeting preceding the meeting before
the last Committee meeting each year, the co-chairs shall appoint a
three-member nominating subcommittee consisting of at least one representative
of a producer, one representative of a biomedical professional organization and
one former committee officer (if one is available). The former officer (if one is available) shall chair the
nominating subcommittee. Members of the
nominating subcommittee shall develop and submit to the secretariat a slate of
candidates. The names of the candidates
should be submitted to the secretariat no later than 30 days prior to the
meeting preceding the last meeting of the year so that their names may be
included in the published agenda.
Additional nominations may be made from the floor at this meeting.
Prior to the last meeting of the year the
secretariat shall conduct a letter ballot.
The name of the person elected shall be announced at the last meeting of
the year. That person shall assume
office immediately following the last meeting of the year.
One co-chair shall be designated as the
presiding officer for each portion of Committee meetings.
The Committee has the right to recall a
co-chair.
There shall be a secretary who is appointed
by the secretariat.
3.2 Executive Committee
The Committee may elect an Executive
Committee.
If one is created, the membership shall
consist of:
a) The officers of the Committee;
b) The chair of the Base Standard Working Group;
c) The principal individual representing NEMA on the
Committee;
d) A minimum of one and a maximum of three members at
large (chosen from among the members of the committee) and
e) The two most recent past chairs of the Committee (one
producer and one user), if they are available to serve.
The responsibilities of the Executive
Committee are to:
a) Provide advice on, and resolution of, administrative
issues as requested by the secretariat;
b) Develop recommendations to the Committee (e.g.,
agenda for Committee meetings, changes in the Committee procedures and recall
of an officer) and
c) Fulfill other responsibilities specifically delegated
by the Committee.
4 Subgroups
4.1 Function
The Committee may form subgroups (often
called working groups) to expedite the work of the Committee. Their formation (and later disbandment)
requires approval by a majority vote of the Committee and appropriate notice to
those who have interest in the activities of the Committee.
The scope and duties delegated to the
subgroup shall be approved at the time it is formed. Subsequent changes in scope or duties shall also require
Committee approval.
All subgroups shall:
a) Be project oriented with clear deliverables or have
other, well-defined responsibilities;
b) Have appropriate membership from interest categories
represented on the Committee and
c) Have a subgroup secretariat and a secretary (as
provided in Section 5.2, below) who will work closely with the Committee’s
secretariat to assure proper conduct and documentation of subgroup activities.
The charge to the subgroup shall clearly
state whether the subgroup is responsible for:
a) The definitive content of one or more proposed
standards (or parts of a standard) and for responding to views and objections
thereon; or
b) Assisting the Committee in some other way.
Subgroups responsible for the definitive
content of a proposed standard shall:
a) Maintain a membership roster in accordance with
5.1(c);
b) Maintain fair and equitable participation in
accordance with Section 2.3, except the 20% rule in Section 2.3.2;
c) Conduct open meetings in accordance with Section 6;
and
d) Operate in accordance with Section 7 as applied to
voting on proposed standards.
The Committee shall annually review the
scope, duties and membership of all subgroups.
4.2 Members and Officers of
Subgroups
There are two ways that a company,
organization or agency may become a member of a subgroup:
a) A member of the Committee may join a subgroup by
informing the Committee’s secretariat of its desire to participate in the work
of the chosen subgroup and designating the name and contact information for its
voting representative and, if desired, one or more alternates;
b) The officers of a subgroup may nominate one or more
companies, organizations, agencies or individuals for participation on that
subgroup. Such a nomination shall be
submitted to the Committee and shall include evidence that the proposed member
meets the criteria spelled out in Sections 2.2, above. Such nominations shall be accompanied by
information regarding the proposed member’s voting representative and
alternate(s), if any. The Committee
shall vote on such nominations and appoint those companies, organizations,
agencies or individuals that are approved.
Each subgroup shall elect a chair or
co-chairs. Other officers may be
elected by the subgroup.
If any member of a subgroup is not
represented at two, consecutive, fact-to-face meetings of the subgroup, that
member shall be suspended from the subgroup.
Suspended members:
a) Will not be counted in determining a quorum for
face-to-face meetings and telephone conferences;
b) May vote in telephone conferences, but participation
in the conference call will not affect the member's suspension status and
c) Will be reinstated to good standing in the subgroup
if they attend one of the next two face-to-face meetings.
If a subgroup member is not represented at
four consecutive face-to-face meetings, then, it shall be converted to observer
(mailer) status in that subgroup. The
company, organization or agency may be reinstated as a member if it is
represented at a face-to-face meeting and submits a written request for
reinstatement to the subgroup’s secretary.
4.3 Observers
Individuals and organizations having an
interest in the work of a subgroup may request listing in the subgroup’s roster
as observers (mailers).
Observers shall be advised of the subgroup’s
activities, may attend meetings and may submit comments for consideration, but
they shall have no vote.
4.4 Base Standard Working
Group
The Committee shall form a subgroup with
responsibility for assuring technical consistency and maintaining the overall
structure of DICOM standards. This
subgroup shall be called the Base Standard Working Group.
The responsibilities of this working group
are described in Section 8, below.
This working group may also perform other functions,
such as the development of proposed standards.
5 Secretariat
5.1 Secretariat of the
Committee
The National Electrical Manufacturers
Association (NEMA) is secretariat of the Committee.
Meetings of the Committee shall operate
under these procedures and the secretariat's appeal procedures. The secretariat shall:
a) Organize the committee.
b) Oversee the Committee’s compliance with these and the
secretariat's procedures.
c) Maintain a current and accurate roster of the
Committee and distribute it to the members at least annually and, otherwise, on
request. The roster shall include the
following:
·
Title of the Committee;
·
Scope of the Committee;
·
Name and address of the
secretariat and secretary;
·
Officers;
·
Members -- including
the name of the organization, company or agency; its voting representative and
alternate(s) with their addresses and other contact information;
·
Classification of each
member;
·
Tally of
classifications: total of voting members and subtotals for each interest
category and
·
Subgroups: title, chair,
and names and addresses of all members.
d) Maintain a list of standards for which the Committee
is responsible;
e) Provide a Committee secretary to perform
administrative work including:
·
Handling meeting
arrangements;
·
Distributing meeting
notices, agendas, minutes, ballots and draft standards and
·
Maintaining adequate
records;
f)
Collect Committee dues
and provide accounting support;
g) Arrange for the publication of Committee standards,
revisions, and addenda;
h) Maintain a list of ongoing standardization projects
and their status and
i)
Perform other
administrative functions as required.
5.2 Secretariat of Subgroups
For the DICOM Standards Committee, Working
Group Six (Base Standard) and Working Group Ten (Strategy), the full-time
attendance of a member of the secretariat's staff is required at every meeting
to provide secretarial services.
For other subgroups, the Committee may
designate another organization to perform the duties of the secretariat. Such subgroup secretariats shall be approved
by the Committee secretariat. Meetings
of all subgroups served by secretariats other than NEMA shall operate under
these Committee procedures and the procedures of the subgroup’s
secretariat. The subgroup secretariat
shall:
a) Oversee the subgroup's compliance with these and the subgroup
secretariat's procedures;
b) Maintain a roster of the subgroup;
c) Provide a secretary to perform administrative work
including:
·
Handling meeting
arrangements;
·
Distributing meeting
notices, agendas, minutes, ballots and draft standards and
·
Maintaining adequate
records;
d) Forward copies of the meeting minutes to the DICOM
secretariat for legal review and for posting to the Committee’s web page;
e) Perform other administrative functions as required
and
f)
Follow the meeting
procedures as provided in Section 6.
Additionally, as a means of conserving
resources, the Committee secretariat may request a member (which is not a
producer) to allow its representative to perform some of the duties of the
secretariat for a specific subgroup – e.g., to host a meeting or to prepare
minutes of a meeting and, subsequently, assure that they are delivered directly
to the secretariat for the working group.
That person shall insure that the discussions at the meeting do not
violate NEMA’s antitrust rules as listed in Section 6.1.
6 Meetings
Committee meetings shall be held to conduct
business, such as making assignments, receiving reports of work, considering
proposed standards, resolving differences among subgroups, and considering
views and objections from any source.
The frequency of Committee meetings shall be
determined by the Committee. Additional
meetings may be called by an officer, the secretariat, or by petition to the
secretariat of five or more members.
Meetings of subgroups may be held as decided
upon by the members or the chair of the subgroup.
Meetings of the Committee and subgroups
shall be open to all individuals having a direct and material interest.
6.1
Meeting Conduct for Vendor Members
All meetings of the Committee and subgroups
shall be conducted under the following procedures and any additional procedures
that the secretariat may prescribe to avoid any antitrust problems.
a) No commercial topics shall be acted upon or even
considered. To avoid the most sensitive
areas, there shall never be a discussion of the following at Committee or
subgroup meetings:
·
Current or future
prices or components thereof, including discounts, rebates, and credit terms;
·
Price list or procedures for coordinating price changes;
·
Sales or production quotas;
·
Allocation or division of territories of customers among
manufacturers, distributors, or retailers;
·
Boycotting any party or denying any party access to
markets, products, product inputs, or information;
·
Identified individual company statistics, market shares,
inventories or merchandising methods;
·
Commercial practices, warranties, guarantees, or the
particular terms and conditions of sales, including credit, shipping and
transportation arrangements, or
·
Anything dealing with "arm-twisting," trade
abuses, or excluding or controlling competition.
b) Committee and subgroup meetings shall be conducted in
such a manner that all members are afforded an adequate opportunity to present
their views. All opinions shall be
considered before actions are voted upon.
The officers shall undertake this responsibility with the assistance of
the secretariat's staff.
c) Discussions shall be confined to technical,
engineering and safety factors.
Commercial considerations (warranties, guarantees, etc.) are not proper
factors and shall not be considered.
Since the DICOM Standard is voluntary, there must be no agreement to
adhere to it or any discussions as to when members will begin to offer products
conforming to DICOM.
d) The secretariat shall ensure that minutes of all
meetings are clear, complete, and accurate with regard to the actions that were
taken and the justification for those actions.
e) There shall be no conversations "off the
record" at a Committee or subgroup meetings. If comments are not appropriate for recording, they shall not be
brought up at meetings.
f)
Committee and subgroup
meetings shall be adjourned when all business has been completed. Informal "rump" sessions are not
part of Committee or subgroup meetings and should not be held.
6.2 Meeting Conduct for
Biomedical Organization Members
The objective of these rules is to create a
neutral ground at meetings of the Committee or its subgroups for the biomedical
professionals and their influence on vendors.
a) Members and non-members who attend meetings shall
understand that the main goal of the Committee is to develop standards for
medical imaging communications and related technologies in the healthcare
domain.
b) Potentially contentious issues of professional
control over an imaging technique or the resulting images (e.g., who should
perform examinations and interpret the resulting images and who should bill for
the professional services rendered) are outside the scope of work of the
Committee and shall not be topics for discussion at meetings of the Committee
or its subgroups.
c) Discussion of professional practice regarding imaging
and interpretation shall be permitted provided that they are described in the
context of professional practice as conducted in a particular institution. Such discussions shall be permitted for the
purposes of generalizing information models, when requested for clarification
by manufacturers or other professional societies. They are also justified when Committee or subgroup consensus is
that such a discussion is materially important to the task at hand and does not
represent a particular professional society's desire to advance its own goals
for medical imaging to the detriment of other organizations.
In accordance
with item a), a biomedical professional organization or group of such
organizations shall not attempt to direct standards development in the DICOM
Standards Committee or its subgroups to further their own goals to the
disadvantage of other biomedical professional organizations.
These rules are
in addition to, not in lieu of, the secretariat's rules for conduct of
meetings. These rules shall apply irrespective of the organization serving as
secretariat for the meeting.
7 Voting
Each member shall vote one of the following
positions:
a) Affirmative;
b) Affirmative, with comment;
c) Negative, with reasons (the reasons for a negative
vote shall be given and if possible should include specific wording or actions
that would resolve the objection); or
d) Abstain.
An alternate's vote is counted only if the
principal representative fails to vote.
If none of these representatives is able to attend, the organization
they represent may designate someone else to cast the vote for the
organization. This designation shall be
documented by a written proxy from either the member’s principal or alternate
representative.
7.1 Single Vote
Generally, no representative shall have more
than one vote. However, if two or more
members appoint the same individual to represent each of them, that individual
may cast a separate vote for each organization represented. The organizations shall confirm in writing
to the secretariat that they are aware of and will accept the results.
7.2 Quorum
A majority of the members of the Committee
with voting rights or a majority of members of subgroups with voting rights
shall constitute a quorum for conducting business at a meeting. Voting rights are described in Section 2.2.4
and Section 4.2.
If a quorum is not present, actions may be
taken subject to confirmation by letter ballot or future approval of the
minutes of the meeting.
7.3 Actions Requiring Approval
by a Majority
The following actions require approval by a
majority of the membership present at a meeting where a quorum is present:
a) Election of officers and at-large members of the
Executive Committee;
b) Formation of a subgroup, including its procedures,
scope, and duties;
c) Approval of new standardization projects;
d) Appointment of subgroup members who are not members
of the Committee;
e) Disbandment of subgroups;
f)
Addition of new
Committee members and designation of their interest categories;
g) Approval of minutes and
h) Other actions not specifically described in these
procedures.
Action on items not published in the meeting
agenda, may be postponed until a future meeting at the discretion of the
officers and the secretariat.
7.4 Actions Requiring Two
Thirds Approval
The following actions require a letter
ballot or an equivalent recorded vote:
a) Adoption of
Committee procedures, interest categories, or revisions thereof;
b) Approval of
new standards or supplements to an existing standard;
c) Approval of,
reaffirmation, or withdrawal of an existing standard;
d) Approval of
change of Committee scope;
e) Approval of
termination of the Committee; and
f) Recall of
officers.
Recorded votes on these actions at a
Committee meeting require approval by at least a majority of the membership
with voting rights and at least two-thirds of those voting affirmative or
negative.
These actions shall not be taken at a
Committee meeting unless the published agenda for the meeting stated that
action was on the agenda and that a vote on the action was expected.
Letter ballots require approval by
two-thirds of those voting affirmative or negative and return of more than
one-half of the ballots sent to members in good standing relative to letter
ballots.
Members are not in good standing relative to
letter ballots if they (or their alternate) have not responded to two
consecutive letter ballots of the Committee.
Members not in good standing will continue to receive and may vote on
subsequent letter ballots.
7.5 Letter Ballot Voting
A letter ballot may be authorized by any of
the following:
a) A majority
vote of those present at a Committee meeting;
b) Either
co-chair;
c) The
secretariat and
d) A petition by
five or more members of the Committee.
Except for approval of standards, the voting
period for letter ballots shall end 30 days from the date of issue or as soon
as all ballots are returned, whichever comes earlier. An extension may be granted at the option of either co-chair,
when warranted.
A follow-up letter requesting immediate
return of the ballot shall be sent, as appropriate, to members and alternate
members whose votes have not been received within ten working days before the
ballot closes.
8 Standardization Project
Phases
Standardization projects shall be conducted
in the following phases.
a) Requirements Definition
(optional),
b) Early Draft,
c) Public Comment
Draft,
d) Intermediate
Draft,
e) Trial-Use
Draft (optional),
f) Letter-Ballot
Text and
g) Final Text.
All draft standards shall be identified with
one of the names in items b) through f) above.
8.1 Requirements Definition
(optional)
The proposal to begin this phase should
contain:
·
A title under which the
extension is identified;
·
A description of the
application and an explanation why this application cannot be handled by the
present standard;
·
A prediction of the
parts of the standard which will be influenced by the proposed extension; and
·
An estimate of the
required capacity and expertise in the subgroup responsible for the project and
other subgroups, such as the Base Standard Working Group.
During this phase, a detailed proposal of
the scope of the project, subgroup resources, and timeframe for completion is
prepared. This phase should be
completed in no more than two meetings of the subgroup.
The Committee may decide that this phase is
not required if the project is relatively small. In this case, the Committee may approve starting with the Early
Draft phase.
Approval for a project to begin this phase
requires a majority vote of the Committee.
8.2 Early Draft
The proposal to begin this phase shall contain
either the detailed proposal prepared in the Requirements Definition Phase or a
brief proposal as described in Section 8.1.
Approval for a project to begin this phase
requires a majority vote of the Committee.
During this phase, the initial drafts of the
standard or supplement are prepared.
This phase is completed when the:
·
Subgroup prepares a
Public Comment Draft of the proposed standard and
·
Public Comment Draft is
approved by the Base Standards Working Group.
8.3 Public Comment Draft
The time that the document is in the public
comment draft is called the Public Comment Period. The Public Comment Period shall be at least 45 days. During this period, the proposed standard is
submitted to a group of interested parties outside the Committee and to other
interested subgroups that report to the Committee. The originating subgroup shall make an effort to identify all
interested parties worldwide.
8.4
Intermediate Draft
This phase begins following the public
comment period.
During this phase the subgroup addresses all
comments received and prepares revised drafts of the proposed standard.
The subgroup shall make a recommendation to
the Base Standard Working Group regarding whether the proposed standard should
go through the Trial-Use Draft Phase or move directly to the Letter-Ballot
Phase. The Base Standard Working Group
shall make the final decision.
This phase is completed when the:
·
Subgroup prepares
either a Trial-Use Draft or Letter-Ballot Text and
·
Document is approved by
the Base Standard Working Group.
8.5 Trial-Use Draft (optional)
This phase begins when the Trial-Use Draft
is approved by the Base Standard Working Group.
The purpose of this phase is to provide a
stable draft of the proposed standard to encourage prototype
implementations. It shall be used when
it is believed that implementation experience is needed before the content of
the proposed standard can be finalized and submitted for letter ballot.
During this phase, changes to the Trial-Use
Draft shall only be made following a well-documented change process that is
maintained by the subgroup responsible for the proposed standard.
The following statement, or equivalent,
shall be included on the front cover of the draft standard:
"Publication of this Draft Standard for trial
use and comment has been approved by the Base Standard Working Group of the
DICOM Standards Committee. Distribution
of this draft standard for comment shall not continue beyond ( ) months from
the date of publication. It is
expected, but not certain, that following this ( ) month period, this draft
standard, revised as necessary, will be submitted to the DICOM Standards
Committee for approval as an addition to the DICOM Standard. Suggestions for revision should be directed
to ...."
This phase is completed when:
·
The subgroup determines
that sufficient input has been obtained;
·
It prepares a
Letter-Ballot Draft; and
·
The Letter-Ballot Text
is approved by the Base Standard Working Group.
8.6 Letter-Ballot Text
Following approval of the Letter-Ballot
Text, the secretariat and either co-chair shall authorize a letter ballot of
the members of the Committee. This
letter ballot shall have a 49-day time limit.
Following the letter ballot, the Base
Standard Working Group shall consider all comments from the letter ballot
according to the secretariat's procedures.
It may prepare a final proposed standard (Final Text) and an explanation
of how each comment was resolved. These
shall be submitted to the secretariat and officers of the Committee.
Alternatively, the Base Standard Working
Group may decide to submit the proposed standard to the subgroup that developed
the standard for further action.
8.7 Final Text
If the secretariat and either co-chair
determine that all comments received during the letter ballot have been
addressed according to these procedures and if there are no technical
differences that directly and materially affect the use of the standard between
the Letter-Ballot Text and the Final Text, then, the standard is approved.
If the secretariat and either co-chair
determine that there are only minor technical differences between the
Letter-Ballot Text and the Final Text, the secretariat shall inform all members
of the Committee regarding the nature of the changes. Each member shall be given a 30-day opportunity to change its
vote. At the conclusion of this period,
the secretary shall recount the votes and determine whether, in view of these
changes, the standard is approved or rejected.
If the secretariat and either co-chair
determine that there are major technical differences between the Letter-Ballot
Text and the Final Text, another ballot will be required.
9 Communications
Correspondence of Committee and subgroup
officers shall employ the Committee's correspondence letterhead or electronic
mechanisms.
9.1 Formal Internal
Communication
If correspondence between subgroups involves
issues or decisions (i.e., non-routine matters) affecting other subgroups,
copies shall be sent to all affected subgroup chairs, the secretariat and the
Committee officers.
9.2 External Communication
Inquiries relating to the Committee should
be directed to the secretariat, and members should so inform individuals who
raise such questions. All replies to
inquiries shall be made through the secretariat.
10 Appeals
Persons who have directly and materially
affected interests and who have been or will be adversely affected by a
standard within the Committee's jurisdiction, or by the lack thereof, shall
have the right to appeal substantive or procedural actions or inactions of the
Committee or the secretariat.
All appeals shall be resolved following the
secretariat's procedures.
11 Parliamentary Procedures
On questions of parliamentary procedures not
covered in these procedures, Robert's
Rules of Order (latest edition) may be used to expedite due process.
Yearly Dues Structure for the
DICOM Standards Committee
(This section is not part of the
procedures. It is provided for
reference only.)
Producers
$1,000 for members of one of the sections of
the NEMA Diagnostic Imaging and Therapy Systems Division, COCIR or JIRA.
$5,000 for companies, organizations or
agencies that are not members of the NEMA Diagnostic Imaging and Therapy
Systems Division, COCIR or JIRA.
Biomedical
Professional Organizations
$ 2,500 for each organization. Dues are waived for organizations that
provide the secretariat of a subgroup.
Trade Associations
No dues.
Standards-Developing
Organizations
No dues.
Government Agencies
No dues.
Observers
No dues.