If you have spent more than 10 minutes in an emergency room in the last 4-5 years, chances are good you had an x-ray, CT or MRI taken in your local hospital, read by someone many thousands of miles away.
Tele-radiology technology allows radiologists sitting at computers all over the world, to read scans, interpret them and return reports without ever having spoken to a treating nurse, physician, seeing the patient, etc.
Is this good for medicine?
Good for patients?
A few of the arguments:
Saves money.
But radiologists have no context to contributing injury if they are not on site.
Radiologists without licenses are reviewing scans.
Quicker.
Only way to get quick reviews.
Better for patients.
Terrible for patients.
What do you think? Join the conversation.