Most hospitals using nighthawk services say they do so due to the convenience of having overnight teleradiology reading available, according to a new study.
Researchers from Yale University of New Haven, CT, investigated the reasons behind why many hospitals employ nighthawk services. They presented the results of their study at the 2007 American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) meeting, held in Orlando, FL, earlier this month.
The group surveyed 300 hospitals, of whom 115 responded. Of the respondents, 63 reported that they use an external nighthawk service. The most commonly cited reason behind nighthawk use was convenience, with the value of nighthawk reads for recruiting purposes as the second most important reason. Excessive volume was another reason for using nighthawks.
Of the participating hospitals, 51% said that the nighthawk service handled 1% to 5% of their reads, while 22% said that less than 1% of their reads were handled by nighthawks. In addition, about 40% (25 of 63) said that they used a nighthawk service located internationally.
Of the hospitals using international nighthawks, 40% did not know the proportion of Americans reading films, while 56% said that the radiologists reading internationally were either all Americans or mostly Americans.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
May 16, 2007
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