Never underestimate the power of a seven-question survey, especially when it goes out to thousands of referrers of radiology services who are eager to provide insights into their field. Stanford University’s outreach, the results of which were published on the American Journal of Roentgenology’s website, show what referrers find most important in their practices.
The biggest takeaways from the survey include the following:
1. The quickness at which exams can be performed and interpreted if key.
2. Most practitioners prefer more specialization in their radiologists.
3. The largest number of imaging exam orders come from urgent care providers.
4. A greater breadth of imaging comes from primary and urgent care providers.
5. Radiologists’ interpretations are in great demand among primary care providers.
6. Regardless of who the provider is, all of them highly value direct interactions.
Researchers concluded that the answers they received support the “concept that referring providers tend to value different aspects of radiology services, differently, according to predictable characteristics.” Furthermore, their findings suggest that the “concept of value in radiology is highly context-specific and can potentially be evaluated, at least in part, using practice-specific referring provider assessments.”
Speedy Returns
An area that has concerned medical practitioners for some time is their reliance on teleradiology and getting results in a timely manner. And the time aspect is only a piece of the puzzle; there is also an accountability issue that has an impact on overall services. For example, it’s not unusual for an exam to go out to a teleradiology vendor, and the sender has no idea exactly where it’s going and when they can expect results.
This process presents a larger issue when the importance of the exam goes up in priority. To whom do they reach out to inform of the status change? With more reliable, advanced teleradiology services, this becomes a non-issue.
Comprehensive Imaging Services
At OffSite Image Management, our focus on comprehensive imaging services takes on the teleradiology problem with TeleRad360. Rather than feeling like you’re sending an exam into the ether, we bring full visibility into the process. You’ll know exactly where yours is every step of the way.
Also, having access to exams becomes a non-issue when you partner with OffSite, because our vendor neutral archiving and storing/access/sharing solutions make exams available anywhere from just about any device. For more information about what we offer, check out our TeleRAD360 solution.
