  |
 
|
Teleradiology refers to electronic transmission of images, either via phone lines, cable, satellite, or the Internet, so the images can be reviewed and interpreted at a site remote from where they were acquired. The image data are transmitted digitally and the process works best for exams that are acquired digitally, such as CT scans, ultrasounds and MRI. These exams can be viewed remotely with the same clarity and ease as at the site where they were performed. This also applies to some X-rays that are acquired digitally (computed radiography or digital radiography). Types of exams, such as regular x-rays, can be digitized and transmitted. However the process of digitization results in loss of information, and these can only be sent for consultation for a cursory review for gross abnormalities.
Teleradiology is very important to Clinical Radiologists. Since we provide services to many hospitals and clinics in Central Illinois, Southern Illinois, and Missouri, we use teleradiology every day. When a radiologist is at a given hospital, he can use teleradiology to get an expert opinion from a subspecialty radiologist in Springfield. After hours, some exams can be sent for STAT interpretations, since we have a radiologist on duty at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield 24 hours a day, every day.
There have been articles in the popular press recently about hospitals using teleradiology to ship after hour images overseas to be interpreted in India or Australia. We’ve been using teleradiology for years, and with our large group, subspecialty expertise, and 24/7 coverage, we keep all of the examinations and interpretations right here at home, with the physicians we know and trust.