by
Nancy Ryerson, Staff Writer | December 30, 2013
From the December 2013 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Many radiology firms offer both teleradiology and on-site radiology and see radiology as a team effort. Facilities can choose to send out studies that need a specialist’s eye, for example, or for a quick turn-around in an emergency situation.
“Let’s say the radiologist is on the phone, and the techs come in with another study, something that needs to be looked at and evaluated, and we’ve still got the patient in the ER sitting there because we don’t have an interpretation,” says Johnson. “That doesn’t happen when we have a hybrid situation. Those studies are sent to the offsite network where they’re read immediately.”
Teleradiology also comes in handy for rural hospitals that only staff a handful of radiologists. There are at least a dozen radiology specialties, from pediatric to MRI, and many hospitals don’t have every type on staff.
“There is a strong interest in subspecialty support,” says Reis of Teleradiology Specialists. “If I’ve got a neuro radiology case, I want it read by a neuro radiology doctor.”
Take back the night – and the day
Many traditional radiologists are not taking what they see as an affront from teleradiology sitting down. The “commoditization” of radiology, and ways to push back against it, has been a popular topic in discussions at RSNA and articles in the Journal of the American College of Radiology and other publications. Radiologists on this side of the debate argue that teleradiology cheapens their practice and hurts patients, and ultimately takes jobs away from on-site radiologists.
One recent study published in the JACR found that radiologists spend only 36.4 percent of their time reading images and dedicate the rest of their time to interacting with other hospital personnel involved in patient care. Radiology advocates say the practice needs to make a stronger effort of making that fact better known.
“They have to go overboard to provide good service,” says David Levin, professor of radiology at Thomas Jefferson University and a long time teleradiology critic. “They have to build bridges to their hospital administration, volunteer for committee service, be better consulting physicians. And they also have to do a better job of weeding out requests for inappropriate studies and exercising more power over the technologists.”
If radiologists don’t seize the day, and take back the night, Levin warns that hospitals will be lured away by the lower prices and fast turnaround times teleradiology companies can offer. Levin even suggests that radiologists should sacrifice 10 to 15 percent of their income to help hospitals save money while holding on to their contracts.
