The cost of medical care has skyrocketed in this country. Government-supported insurance programs have done nothing but exacerbate this issue while providing fewer services to patients. In an effort to control the cost of care, many private doctors and even some hospitals have begun to utilize 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.
Ultrasound radiologists often work in a vacuum, as OB doctors are one of the few local medical practices that are likely to keep a radiologist on hand. However, ultrasounds involve the live miniature human in motion factor, and this means getting proper measurements and evaluations done in real time can be difficult. In instances where they see something that seems off to them, they are now able to access a second-opinion while the patient is on the radiology table.
Pregnant women are not the only ones who can benefit from the availability of more than one radiologist. Patients who present with chest pain or have a history of strokes and other cardiology concerns are usually sent to larger area hospitals. Not only does this extend the time it takes to get proper diagnosis or treatment, but it increases the cost to the patient exponentially.
Having such specialists available in an online capacity not only lowers costs, but it allows smaller medical offices to offer more extensive testing at their facility. This means fewer ambulance trips from hospital to hospital. It can also mean that the radiologists work from home in an on-call capacity, which gives them more freedom to spend time with family and friends rather than working odd shifts at medical facilities.
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.
Ultrasound radiologists often work in a vacuum, as OB doctors are one of the few local medical practices that are likely to keep a radiologist on hand. However, ultrasounds involve the live miniature human in motion factor, and this means getting proper measurements and evaluations done in real time can be difficult. In instances where they see something that seems off to them, they are now able to access a second-opinion while the patient is on the radiology table.
Pregnant women are not the only ones who can benefit from the availability of more than one radiologist. Patients who present with chest pain or have a history of strokes and other cardiology concerns are usually sent to larger area hospitals. Not only does this extend the time it takes to get proper diagnosis or treatment, but it increases the cost to the patient exponentially.
Having such specialists available in an online capacity not only lowers costs, but it allows smaller medical offices to offer more extensive testing at their facility. This means fewer ambulance trips from hospital to hospital. It can also mean that the radiologists work from home in an on-call capacity, which gives them more freedom to spend time with family and friends rather than working odd shifts at medical facilities.
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.
About the Author:
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.
0 Response to "Teleradiology Services Grants Doctors The Power To Save Lives Without The Wait"