Teleradiology

The following FAQ pages are intended for veterinarians. For Pet Owner FAQ pages please visit the Pet Owners section.

Do you need teleradiology?
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Do You Need Teleradiology?

Human telemedicine caught on about 15 years ago when it allowed radiologists to review emergency cases from home instead of driving to the hospital in the middle of the night. Now it is regularly used for consultations within and between hospitals.

Teleradiology is still the leading telemedicine application in human medicine: this year alone over 600,000 teleradiology consultations will be performed, three times more than all other telemedicine applications together.

Remember that Radiologists go through 3 or 4 years of intensive training just to start mastering the art.

A major problem with self evaluation of radiographic performance is that errors are totally invisible... until pointed out by someone else. Errors of omission are as frequent as errors of misinterpretation, therefore you are as likely to be wrong when x-rays seem normal as when they look abnormal! In addition, radiologists will frequently find other lesions--in addition to the obvious one(s)--that will have an impact on prognosis or medical management.

Even if you are more skilled in radiology than the average veterinarian, the diagnostic yield and the confidence in the results (for you and your clients) are considerably enhanced when radiographs are reviewed by a radiologist because you provide a radiology service similar to those found in universities and large referral centers!

Considering the costs and efforts spent to obtain a radiograph as well as its impact on diagnosis and therapy, every radiograph deserves to--and should--be reviewed by a radiologist.

Sending all your radiographs for interpretation makes a very good impression on your clients. They see that at your hospital they get the very best service veterinary medicine can offer.