Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Teleradiology's benefits are well-known -- as are its drawbacks, according to some skeptics. It enables the remote interpretation of images and reduces the rigors of being on call, while at the same time potentially building barriers between radiologists and referring physicians.
But teleradiology can also provide valuable insight into the vagaries of radiology practice in the U.S., insight that can begin to address the wide variation in practice patterns that plagues the American healthcare system.
Get the rest of the story in an article we're featuring this week in our PACS Digital Community. Senior editor Erik L. Ridley interviewed Dr. Richard Abramson, who worked as a teleradiologist for two years before joining Vanderbilt University.
During his tenure in teleradiology, Abramson witnessed firsthand the wide variation in radiology practice, from scans for the same clinical indication performed with different technical protocols to varying usage of digital technologies such as PACS and RIS.
He hopes that his experience will inspire research into practice variation in medical imaging and its effects on healthcare resource utilization. Learn more by clicking here.
In other news in the community, check out a new article on the growth of vendor-neutral archives, based on a study by market research firm InMedica, by clicking here. Also, don't miss a fascinating report on the growth of PACS in China from this week's Medical Imaging Informatics and Teleradiology conference in Toronto.
For these stories and more, visit the community at pacs.auntminnie.com.
RADExpo 2012 wrap-up
We'd like to thank the hundreds of radiology professionals who attended RADExpo 2012: Spring PACS Symposium on Tuesday. The online event was an unqualified success, with five great speakers on important topics in healthcare informatics.
If you weren't able to join us, don't worry -- you can still view archived versions of all the presentations. Just go to radexpo.auntminnie.com and click on the "View Archived Conference Now" button.
For a taste of what you might be missing, click here for an article on Dr. Jonathan Berlin's presentation on critical test results management in radiology.
