Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Sending patients directly to knee MRI rather than to orthopedic specialists first results in better patient care despite higher initial costs, according to a new U.K. study that we're featuring in our Musculoskeletal Imaging Digital Community.
In the study, researchers from the University of York conducted a multicenter trial of more than 550 patients to see whether it was cost-effective for general practitioners to send patients with knee damage directly to MRI before a specialist referral.
The topic is a salient one in the U.K. as the country's National Health Service has traditionally required specialist referral before imaging studies can be ordered, according to the article by contributing writer Rob Skelding.
The authors found that while direct MRI referrals resulted in slightly higher costs in the short term, the extra expense was worth it, as it resulted in better patient outcomes and improved quality of life. Get the details by clicking here, or visit our Musculoskeletal Imaging Digital Community at msk.auntminnie.com.
Indian teleradiology
Next up in our Healthcare IT Digital Community is an article on teleradiology in India. Most of the buzz you hear about Indian teleradiology focuses on whether Indian teleradiologists will be taking jobs from their higher-paid counterparts in more developed countries.
But the story we're highlighting offers a different angle: Indian physicians who are using telemedicine links to review x-rays, lab results, and other medical data from hospitals in underdeveloped areas of Africa.
African doctors welcome the additional assistance as a means of coping with an overstretched and underfunded healthcare system, where some rural areas have no access to healthcare at all. And Indian healthcare facilities and the country's government see the links as an excellent way to take advantage of the country's burgeoning technical infrastructure and medical expertise.
Get the rest of the story by clicking here, or visit the Healthcare IT Digital Community at healthcareit.auntminnie.com.
