Digital imaging in the medical field is a huge advancement since the days of film based x-rays and exploratory surgeries. Rather than take an x-ray and wait for it to be developed, a doctor can order an x-ray and see it within minutes. Digital imaging technologies seems to have monopolized the market cornered in hospitals and health care facilities.
Last week I spent a fair amount of time with a family member who was recently diagnosed with cancer. On the bottom of each of the reports was a doctor’s name from another hospital. Each report that came back was digitally signed by the same doctor from outside the hospital where the images were created.
Why, I wondered, would a hospital want to not have a radiologist on duty to read these? After all, a few weeks ago my hand was x-rayed and the results were provided within minutes after the x-ray. Turns out the answer isn’t so simple and comes down to finances and technology.
With the advent of digital imaging, hospitals have been able to reduce their bottom line and outsource certain jobs. In this case, the hospital my family member was in was able to send the images to another radiologist in another state and keep a $375,000.00 job off their payroll.
After researching the radiologist’s name that read my family member’s images I started doing some digging in the practice of teleradioligy. In this case the radiologist was located in Connecticut and had experience in a major hospital. Actually, I was fairly impressed with his credentials.
Doctors, like many other professionals, work either independently or are on someone else’s payroll. Those who have their own office or who may need or want extra work can sign on with one of many outsourcing firms. For a fee, radiologists then view and read images taken by the hospital and report back their findings.
As with all outsourcing, there is much controversy. Patients who do the research may wonder if the outsourced doctor is capable. Another common concern is patient privacy as images and patient information is transferred electronically. Though it would seem all images are similar, apparently another concern in the field is minor nuances from hospital to hospital and doctor to doctor.
Because I’m writing about technology I’m going to keep my focus on the ability and ease of sending images around the world to be analyzed. Doing so has reduced the cost of medical care and in turn has lowered out of pocket expenses for health insurance. Advances in medical technology combined with more secure networks has made medical outsourcing much easier and safer.
Part of the learning curve the medical industry has gone through with respect to outsourcing is patient familiarity. In other words, the relationship between the outsourced doctor and patient. Years ago it wasn’t uncommon for different doctors to read different images from the same patient. Industry analysts have pushed to keep the same doctor reading and reporting on the patient for consistency.
It’s lucky how the key diagnostic for my family member’s cancer all started with a snapshot of a kidney stone in her other kidney. Some radiologist in Connecticut happened upon the larger mass and reported it back to the hospital which caused a whole slew of other digital diagnostics. We are fairly lucky digital technology has come so far over the years because it allows medical professionals to find complications quickly and eradicate them before they become major issues.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him at (978) 919-8059 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)