Increased Use of Teleradiology Services by Hospitals, Washington Post

Main Category: Radiology / Nuclear Medicine
Article Date: 26 Apr 2005 - 9:00 PDT

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The Washington Post on Sunday examined hospitals' use of teleradiology services, in which US hospitals contract with firms to have radiologists in countries such as India, Australia, Switzerland, Brazil and Israel read diagnostic images when a staff radiologist is not available. Demand for teleradiology services has increased as advances in imaging technology have outpaced the domestic supply of radiologists, leaving many hospitals with more radiology cases than they can handle. Supporters of the practice say that it improves patient care in part by allowing staff radiologists to sleep uninterrupted at night. Critics of hospitals' use of teleradiology services say that the practice raises questions about firm employees' qualifications, communication with U.S. physicians, liability and patient privacy. However, both supporters and critics of teleradiology say hospitals' increasing use of such services is "the leading edge of a movement toward greater use of telemedicine," the Post reports.

Response
A "flurry of regulatory initiatives" -- including federal and state legislation that would regulate licensing of overseas doctors and require patient notification whenever remote medicine practices are used -- has come in response to hospitals' use of telemedicine services. For example, Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) have introduced legislation that would require patient consent before hospitals could transmit their health information to overseas firms (Stein, Washington Post, 4/24).

Washington Post

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