ER Imaging Misconception

While many are quick to point to overuse of medical imaging as a culprit for the high cost of hospital emergency care today, the fact is that without rapid access to ER imaging results, diagnosis and treatment delays would be the norm and the cost of care would be even greater.

With teleradiology, ER patients can:

• Quickly have diagnostic imaging interpreted without requiring a radiologist on site. 
• Doctors can have access to interpretations 24/7/365 and begin patient treatment.
• Teleradiology services allow hospitals to treat patients round the clock.

Speed, accuracy in ER imaging are key

Medical imaging is critical to the diagnosis and treatment of all patients. The speed and accuracy of diagnosis would be significantly diminished without it, particularly in the case of emergency care. Trends show continued increases in medical imaging for emergency departments according to an article entitled: ¹“Diagnostic Imaging Trends in the Emergency Department: An Extensive Single-Center Experience”.

It is ideal for emergency departments to have 24/7 access to x-ray, CT, MRI and ultrasound. The reality is that many hospitals do not have round the clock on site staff for such purposes. Teleradiology provides a viable option.  It’s important to work with a reputable provider, with a dedicated group of US-based radiologists that is assigned to your facility. Timely communications lead to improved patient outcomes and fewer repeat scans.

Access to consultation is important

Arthur Greene, MD, President of Excalibur Healthcare and board-certified radiologist, says that the best possible outcomes can occur when radiologists take a more active role in the real time consultation of patient imaging exams with the ED physicians. The environment in which this is likely to occur? When there is an ongoing relationship between the emergency staff and radiologist.

Consultation is more important with the nationwide shortage of physicians. The shortage leaves emergency medicine departments staffed by non-emergency medicine trained clinicians. These other healthcare professionals may be nurse practitioners and PA’s. Real-time consultation with a radiologist provides the opportunity to define the patient’s clinical presentation with greater precision, with correlation to the imaging exams for a specific diagnosis and directive report to the clinician. 

1. Source: Diagnostic Imaging Trends in the Emergency Department: An Extensive Single-Center Experience, by Juliusson G, Thorvaldsdottir B, Kristjansson JM, Hannesson P. Acta Radiol Open. 2019;8(7):2058460119860404. Published 2019 Jul 31. doi:10.1177/2058460119860404. ↩︎