News: Telemedicine helps U.S. radiologists interpret scans

Telemedicine has been a buzzword since the 90s, and refers to the use of video and computer technology to let doctors remotely diagnose or treat a patient.

Some hospitals in the U.S. are now using telemedicine techniques to reduce the load on overworked American radiologists, by letting radiologists in India interpret sophisticated digital scans of patients in U.S. hospitals, reports the Seattle Times.

The article notes that a hospital in Altoona, Penn., turned to the services of Teleradiology Solutions in Bangalore after finding its small radiology staff was being stretched thin to interpret late-night scans of patients. Teleradiology Solutions, which uses American-trained Indian radiologists, helps the hospital augment its radiology department by using the Web to transmit Computed Tomography and other types of scans. The company can receive a scan, interpret the images, and produce a preliminary written report for the hospital in 30 minutes. American radiologists review the report and produce a final diagnosis.

While the focus of the Seattle Times article is on the outsourcing issues involved with this type of telemedicine, another article by Express Healthcare Management delves into the technology used by Teleradiology Solutions and its U.S. clients. Besides traditional CT scans, the company can also accept MRI, ultrasound, X Ray, nuclear medicine studies, conventional plain films (in digital format), and has a 3D post-processing service for CT and MRI image data.

Note that telemedicine can't be used for all types of hospital procedures, or handle outbreaks such as C. diff in hospitals.