Tele Radiology How it works

Teleradiology is the transmission of radiological patient images, such as x-rays, CTs, and MRIs, from one location to another for the purposes of interpretation and/or consultation. Teleradiology is a growth technology given that imaging procedures are growing approximately 15% annually against an increase of only 2% in the Radiologist population.

Teleradiology improves patient care by allowing Radiologists to provide services without actually having to be at the location of the patient. This is particularly important when a sub-specialist such as a MRI Radiologist, Neuroradiologist, Pediatric Radiologist, or Musculoskeletal Radiologist is needed, since these professionals are generally only located in large metropolitan areas working during day time hours. Teleradiology allows for trained specialists to be available 24/7.

Teleradiology utilizes standard network technologies such as the internet, telephone lines, wide area network (WAN), or over a local area network (LAN). Specialized software is used to transmit the images and enable the Radiologist to effectively analyze what can be hundreds of images for a given study. Technologies such as advanced graphics processing, voice recognition, and image compression are often used in Teleradiology. Through Teleradiology, images can be sent to another part of the hospital, or to other locations around the world.

Teleradiologists can provide a Preliminary Read for emergency room cases and other emergent cases or a Final Read for the official patient record and for use in billing.

Preliminary Reports include all pertinent findings and a phone call for any critical findings. For some Teleradiology services, the turnaround time is extremely rapid with a 30 minute standard turnaround and expedited for critical and stroke studies.

Teleradiology Final Reports can be provided for emergent and non-emergent studies. Final reports include all findings and require access to prior studies and all relevant patient information for a complete diagnosis. Phone calls with any critical findings are signs of quality services.

Teleradiology Preliminary or Final Reports can be provided for all doctors and hospitals overflow studies. Teleradiology can be available for intermittent coverage as an extension of practices and will provide patients with the highest quality care.

Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is a standard for handling, storing, printing, and transmitting information in medical imaging. It includes a file format definition and a network communications protocol. The communication protocol is an application protocol that uses TCP/IP to communicate between systems. DICOM files can be exchanged between two entities that are capable of receiving image and patient data in DICOM format. The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) holds the copyright to this standard. It was developed by the DICOM Standards Committee, whose members are also partly members of NEMA.

DICOM enables the integration of scanners, servers, workstations, printers, and network hardware from multiple manufacturers into a picture archiving and communication system (PACS). The different devices come with DICOM conformance statements which clearly state the DICOM classes they support. DICOM has been widely adopted by hospitals and is making inroads in smaller applications like dentists' and doctors' offices.

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