Integrated Teleradiology +VPACS Produces New Profits for Rural Health Facilities
Radiology departments in rural facilities, where most of the profit and appeal to local physicians is centered, can now take advantage of new technology to reduce cost, improve efficiency and deliver higher earnings that translate to more effective competition.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Integrated Teleradiology +VPACS Produces New
Profits for Rural Health Facilities
Sugar Land, Texas (PRWEB) October 20,
2003 – As the worldwide human population migrates to urban settings, rural
communities often struggle to provide basic services, such as healthcare. With
dwindling population and resources, rural healthcare facilities find it
increasingly difficult to compete with large urban medical centers for the
treatment of patients in their own region. Radiology departments in rural
facilities, where most of the profit and appeal to local physicians is centered,
can now take advantage of new technology to reduce cost, improve efficiency and
deliver higher earnings that translate to more effective
competition.
When your doctor decides that you need an X-Ray, ultrasound,
CT or MR study to assist in diagnosis and treatment, your doctor usually refers
you to a radiology department in a facility trusted to do a good job of
generating and interpreting diagnostic images. This trust relationship between
your doctor and the radiology department exists because your doctor has
evaluated the capabilities and reliability of the facility and feels comfortable
in referring you to their care.
When you arrive at the radiology
department, the study is performed by a radiology technologist, a licensed
specialist highly trained in operating the diagnostic equipment used in your
study. Once the studies are complete, the images are delivered to a radiologist
for interpretation. The radiologist is a medical doctor who specializes in
reading diagnostic images, defining the problem and suggesting treatment
options. After the process is complete, your doctor receives the images and a
report from the radiologist that assist him in deciding on the best course of
treatment.
Experts generally agree that over 50% of the profit generated
in any healthcare facility comes from the radiology department, making it the
most important profit center in the facility. They also agree that the radiology
department is one of the most critical aspects in marketing the capabilities of
a healthcare facility to local doctors for patient referrals.
In the
next 8 to 12 years, the healthcare industry will experience a severe shortage of
radiologists. In Texas alone, over 50% of the practicing radiologists are
expected to retire within the next five years. Combined with falling resources,
the effects of these trends could produce real hardship for many rural hospitals
and clinics.
Recent technical developments have delivered answers to the
special needs of rural healthcare facilities that will help them turn this
crisis to their advantage. With a minimal investment in technology, these
facilities can now offer benefits consistent with large urban medical centers at
a fraction of the cost.
Teleradiology is the application of modern
communications, storage and display technology to the secure transmission of
medical diagnostic images. Using encrypted connections over the Internet, images
can be seen by any radiologist on any computer anywhere in the world.
Teleradiology provides profitable options for the healthcare facility and the
radiologist by using an open DICOM (Digital Communications in Medicine) standard
that allows different systems to feely exchange information. For the healthcare
facility, anyone with Internet connectivity can send studies to be interpreted,
opening new income options that help to attract and retain qualified
radiologists. Facilities with limited radiology coverage can expand their
coverage by contracting to remote radiologists. For the radiologist, these
options mean that they can now interpret studies and produce reports from any
location in the world.
PACS (Picture Archival and Communications
Systems) technology produces long-term storage and retrieval of diagnostic
images at a cost about 20% of the current costs for producing and storing
diagnostic films. The improved retrieval capabilities of PACS systems allow
doctors to easily display older images or show the progression of conditions
over time. Although this technology is obviously attractive, many smaller
facilities do not have the capital and manpower to implement and maintain a
local PACS system.
A more recent development, the Virtual PACS (VPACS),
integrates teleradiology and PACS archival into a single system that can be
utilized anywhere over the Internet. More importantly, especially for smaller
hospitals and clinics, VPACS equipment can be located at a central facility and
shared by many facilities. This eliminates the need for local maintenance
personnel, drastically reduces the capital cost for each facility, and reduces
the per study cost for archival.
Providing access to teleradiology and
VPACS for local doctors eliminates the cost of delivering films and demonstrates
a progressive approach to radiology that allows local doctors to display digital
images directly to their patients.
With reduced costs, increased
efficiency, and a more personal approach to healthcare, smaller rural facilities
can now compete directly with large urban medical centers for patient referrals
by local doctors.
About the Lone Star VPACS Teleradiology
Network™
Lone Star Connect Enterprises is a non-profit entity in Texas that
operates the Service Connect Network™, providing secured Internet connectivity,
basic services such as email or user help desk, and enhanced services such as
teleradiology, continuing education content delivery, teleconferencing, and
local network maintenance and improvement. The Lone Star VPACS Teleradiology
Network™ is the largest network of its kind dedicated to teleradiology and
Virtual PACS archival services.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2003/10/prweb85310.htm