Health Imaging & IT - April 2008 - (Page 41)

what the future holds No matter what type of coverage is needed—nighttime, daytime, subspecialty— many facilities are realizing that using remote reading for preliminary reads does not always translate into cost-savings, depending on size and imaging volume. There are two things to consider in the future for radiologists, says Tienstra. The first is the radiologist shortage. “It is a little difficult to recruit rads right now and those programs that offer nighthawk remote reading and remote reading are obviously going to be much more attractive to potential employees,” he says. The second issue centers on the paranoia among some radiologists that remote reads could actually take over hospitals and hospitals would no longer need them onsite, Tienstra adds. “No matter how small your hospital is, there are always procedures that need to be done onsite, and so while a remote reading group could take care of 90 to 95 percent of the reads, there is still 5 percent or 10 percent of onsite work to be done that would kill off an entire remote reading deal.” The general consensus seems to be that while remote reading provides many benefits to facilities small and large, it is still a service that is used in conjunction with hospitals, not to replace the onsite radiologist, but perhaps as well, to transform the role of the virtual radiologist. The job of a virtual radiologist has become a valuable supplement to local radiology staff while working outside the confines of the traditional radiology and teleradiology group. Steve Pawar, MD, a virtual radiologist for Lewiston Hospital in Lewiston, Penn. said they can work 30 percent faster and more efficiently at home. He adds that when he is onsite, about 15 percent of his time is taken up with functions not directly related to interpreting or exams like fluoroscopy or biopsies, for which he may or may not receive reimbursement for performing. Another advantage of working in this fashion, Pawar says, is the close, continuous, working relationship with medical staff Healthimaging.com technological personnel. “In the future, remote reading is either going to be where radiologists work from home or for teleradiology groups,” he says. Pawar feels that many radiology departments will be staffing with less onsite radiologists and outsourcing the remaining work to teleradiologists. “There are enough technological means and enough demand for remote reading to really ignore it,” he adds. Visit us at SIIM Booth 502 april 2008 | Health Imaging & IT 41 http://www.dejarnette.com http://www.dejarnette.com http://Healthimaging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Health Imaging & IT - April 2008

Health Imaging & IT - April 2008 Contents On the Web The Enterprise News Update Cracking Down: CT Radiation Dose 3D Rendering: Options Galore Thinking Thin-Client Modality Review Ergonomics & Design Special Section: Storage Strategies Imaging Tools Technology Outlook People & Technology Technology Review IT Trends Reader's Resource Stat Sheet

Health Imaging & IT - April 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.