As medical costs have risen, medical facilities are trying to use technology to help keep costs down. Government programs have only made things more expensive, and lessened the availability of property healthcare for many people. Technological innovation is bringing us option, such as teleradiology services.
Everyone who has ever read a hospital bill has seen the radiology entry in the itemization of charges. Few really understand what the term means, or they believe it applies only to x-rays obtained during a hospital visit. MRIs, CAT scans, and CT scans are all examples of radiological examinations, and all of these require an expert to evaluate the images in order to come to proper diagnosis or treatment.
Most private medical practices have to send their physical images to a local service in order to have them evaluated properly. For this reason, it is not uncommon for patients to be transported to area hospitals for treatment of broken bones, or evaluation of a patient complaining of chest pain. Local urgent centers often have patients transported via ambulance or Life-Flight, at great cost to the patient.
Local urgent centers rarely have the economic power to keep radiologists on staff all the time. Even hospitals have trouble affording these specialists since they can charge as much as $1,500.00 per day, or even per shift. However, when the facility is able to obtain an off-site specialist, certain images can be reviewed right away, meaning that life-preserving procedures can take place with less of the dangerous wait that sometimes occurs.
Radiologists who specialize in ultrasound technology are often on their own in an OB/GYN office. There are instances where the radiologist may wish to have a second set of eyes on the images he or she is taking, and that person needs this to be available in real time since the measurements and general evaluation of the ultrasound is done in real time. We now have the technology to allow this to happen.
This ability to receive an instant second opinion is good for more than just pregnant patients. Emergency Room radiologists must use their own discretion when evaluating images of internal injuries or multiple fractures, and they are the ones who give the go-ahead for expensive and risky surgical procedures. Not only can an off-site service grant them a second set of eyes on the images, but if there is no radiologists available at the time, it shortens the time it takes for image evaluation to occur.
Online radiology services mean real-time evaluations can be done at smaller facilities or small-town hospitals. It also means expert evaluation is there for those in third world countries, or anyone being assisted by the Doctors Without Borders ship. The radiologists themselves are on-call for long periods of time, but they are otherwise able to live where they like, and can sometimes even work from home.
Offsite radiologists are able to charge per image rather than charging the facility for an entire day. This means they are somewhat inconvenienced at being placed on-call, but the cost of their service to hospitals, and eventually to patients, goes from the thousands to less than $100 for the image. Patients are advised to look at their bills closely to make sure that savings is being passed on to them.
Everyone who has ever read a hospital bill has seen the radiology entry in the itemization of charges. Few really understand what the term means, or they believe it applies only to x-rays obtained during a hospital visit. MRIs, CAT scans, and CT scans are all examples of radiological examinations, and all of these require an expert to evaluate the images in order to come to proper diagnosis or treatment.
Most private medical practices have to send their physical images to a local service in order to have them evaluated properly. For this reason, it is not uncommon for patients to be transported to area hospitals for treatment of broken bones, or evaluation of a patient complaining of chest pain. Local urgent centers often have patients transported via ambulance or Life-Flight, at great cost to the patient.
Local urgent centers rarely have the economic power to keep radiologists on staff all the time. Even hospitals have trouble affording these specialists since they can charge as much as $1,500.00 per day, or even per shift. However, when the facility is able to obtain an off-site specialist, certain images can be reviewed right away, meaning that life-preserving procedures can take place with less of the dangerous wait that sometimes occurs.
Radiologists who specialize in ultrasound technology are often on their own in an OB/GYN office. There are instances where the radiologist may wish to have a second set of eyes on the images he or she is taking, and that person needs this to be available in real time since the measurements and general evaluation of the ultrasound is done in real time. We now have the technology to allow this to happen.
This ability to receive an instant second opinion is good for more than just pregnant patients. Emergency Room radiologists must use their own discretion when evaluating images of internal injuries or multiple fractures, and they are the ones who give the go-ahead for expensive and risky surgical procedures. Not only can an off-site service grant them a second set of eyes on the images, but if there is no radiologists available at the time, it shortens the time it takes for image evaluation to occur.
Online radiology services mean real-time evaluations can be done at smaller facilities or small-town hospitals. It also means expert evaluation is there for those in third world countries, or anyone being assisted by the Doctors Without Borders ship. The radiologists themselves are on-call for long periods of time, but they are otherwise able to live where they like, and can sometimes even work from home.
Offsite radiologists are able to charge per image rather than charging the facility for an entire day. This means they are somewhat inconvenienced at being placed on-call, but the cost of their service to hospitals, and eventually to patients, goes from the thousands to less than $100 for the image. Patients are advised to look at their bills closely to make sure that savings is being passed on to them.
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You can get a summary of the things to consider before picking a provider of teleradiology services at http://www.spot-on-radiologist.com/services right now.
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