Vesta Teleradiology

Promoting Arthritis Awareness

In the United States, arthritis is the leading cause of disability. Older adults are living longer, but as a result, chronic conditions like arthritis are increasing.

Arthritis symptoms vary from person to person. Testing and treatments performed by a medical professional will depend on the type of arthritis and the intensity of pain.

Osteoarthritis usually causes symptoms only in the joints and is generally caused by repetitive movements like heavy lifting, bending, or squatting. A person can also develop osteoarthritis in their hands and wrists from extensive use of a keyboard on the computer.

Other types of arthritis may display symptoms in places outside the body’s joints. Symptoms can include fatigue, skin irritations or rash, joint swelling, warmth, and redness in the area of body pain.

Patients should discuss any joint changes or discomfort with their physician, who will assess any swelling, tenderness, or loss of motion in the joint. If warranted, your physician may order X-rays, urinalysis, blood work, or extract a small amount of fluid from the affected joint for testing.

After the exam and review of the test results, your physician will be able to define more closely what type of arthritis (if any) you are experiencing.

Osteoarthritis can be detected by your physician from X-rays that reveal cartilage loss or detect bone spurs. Your blood, fluid, and urine tests will rule out diseases other than arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease diagnosed by rheumatoid factors (RF) in your blood tests. There is also an anti-CCP test which is a relatively new blood test.

The anti-CCP test measures levels of antibodies in the blood. This measurement can determine who has rheumatoid arthritis, or identify if someone is about to get rheumatoid arthritis. The anti-CCP can also predict the severity of the disease process.

How Physicians Help

Your physician’s goal is to control your arthritic disease process, help you maintain mobility, and relieve your discomfort and pain. Your physician will discuss with you if physical therapy, exercise, drugs, surgery, rest, or any combination of treatments may be options for you,

If you receive a diagnosis of arthritis, routine health care visits can allow a provider to communicate science-backed preventative measures that can slow the disease progression and reduce or prevent unnecessary pain for the patient.

A person can maintain healthier joints and improve their balance during their activities with exercise. Other health risks associated with inflammatory arthritis, like bone, heart, lung, and kidney complications, can also be reduced by staying active.

Studies have shown that older adults who engage in moderate physical activity of at least 150 hours per week experience less arthritic pain. Providers can help you incorporate joint-friendly exercises like walking, flexibility exercises, and light weight-lifting into your health and wellness plan.

working out

Weight loss can help with many medical conditions that adults experience and is especially effective for those patients with arthritis. The CDC estimates that 39 million adults with arthritis are overweight or obese.

Weight loss is the most effective non-drug way to manage arthritis and joint pain. Health and wellness professionals can assess, counsel, and support their patrons with individualized weight loss techniques.

Providers can also provide lists of arthritis education programs and activities. More access to these programs provide older adults, and adults of any age, with the most recent science-based information about arthritis.

Other treatments for arthritic pain include relaxation techniques, cognitive therapy, visualization therapy, acupuncture, herbal and Ayurvedic medications that have helped people with chronic arthritic pain. Dry and moist heat can also help with pain and stiffness.

Creative thinking and problem solving by professionals in the wellness fields can extend the quality of life and reduce arthritic disabilities. Early diagnosis and treatment is essential in most cases.

What to Do After Diagnosis

Patients who are diagnosed with arthritis may need to relax and work at a realistic pace that is different from the pace they are used to working. Questions will continually come up and so will new medications and treatments. All of your health and wellness team members are essential in helping you to stay healthy, stay informed, stay flexible, and stay positive.

Recent Breakthroughs in Radiology and Imaging

Since the 19th century, radiology and imaging have been making breakthroughs in clinical practice, allowing for safer and more effective treatment for millions of patients. Recent breakthroughs have made the field of radiology more dependable, cost-effective, and practical.

In the healthcare realm, radiology has become the standard for modern equipment used for preventive care, surgical treatment, diagnostics, and more. Here are some ways radiology and imaging have expanded healthcare technology:

Imaging Tests Replace Invasive Surgery

Imaging tests have gone a long way to replace exploratory diagnostic testing and unnecessary invasive surgeries. Before radiology and imaging tests, medical professionals may have had a more challenging time identifying fractures, broken bones, infections, cancers, tumors, strokes, MS, epilepsy, etc.

Imaging tests help doctors, nurses, surgeons, dentists, and more visualize what’s happening inside your body using imaging scans like X-rays, MR scans, CT scans, ultrasounds, etc., without performing invasive surgery. Seeing what’s happening inside your body is an incredible superpower, which is how imaging tests have helped save millions of lives.

If you have to undergo surgical or dental procedures, imaging tests can help guide medical professionals for accurate results.

Scan for Cancer with PET/CT

PET scans combined with CT scanning allow medical professionals to look at your biological functions, metabolic changes associated with cancer, and changes to your organs. While radiation exposure is related to this process, radiology technology is working to reduce that.

Currently, healthcare providers work on limiting exposure using specific medications, lead aprons, and more. The payoff is detecting cancer much earlier than with traditional imaging and scans. Not only can these scans look for cancer, but they can also even monitor your chemotherapy treatment.

Breast Cancer Screening with Digital Mammography

Digital mammography is a highly effective screening method for breast cancer, especially compared to traditional methods. Digital mammograms have proven to be more accurate, effective, reliable, and easier to share with other medical providers.

CT Angiography Blood Vessel Imaging

Until recently, angiography was performed by inserting a catheter into an artery to inject a substance visible in an X-ray. This allows medical professionals to look for internal bleeding, blockages, and other health problems. This process can take a long time, require sedatives, and have a slight chance of bleeding or blood clots. High-tech CT angiography scans provide the same information without being invasive. Plus, the new process takes less than 30 minutes.

As radiology and imaging technology keeps experiencing breakthroughs, the impact on healthcare practice is definite. We can look forward to quicker, minimally-invasive diagnostic exams, more precise and more accurate images, and the ability to share scans instantly between providers.

For patients and providers both, this represents quick visits and satisfying results. Recent breakthroughs in radiology and imaging mean the process is safer, faster, and more cost-effective.

Teleradiology

Teleradiology itself has been an amazing advancement in the medical field, allowing radiologists from anywhere in the world, the ability to receive and interpret scans. The US Board Certified Radiologists at Vesta are able to work with any healthcare provider to provide premlin and final interpretations, and we work nights, holidays and weekends to support your staff and operations. Contact us to learn more.

Why Hire a Teleradiology Company? The Benefits of Teleradiology

Teleradiology is an industry on the rise. Reports from Emergen Research project that the industry’s market size will reach $40 billion globally by 2028.

But why are so many medical clinics adopting teleradiology? It’s because this type of imaging offers many significant benefits. Today, let’s discuss just a few ways that teleradiology can benefit your practice.

How Teleradiology Helps Patients

Medical professionals have long been advocating for teleradiology as a tool to make healthcare more accessible. In fact, medical journals were promoting radiology as long ago as the 1980s!

One of the main arguments for teleradiology is the potential to expand your patient network, particularly in rural areas. Teleradiologists don’t need to travel to a hospital or physician’s office to read an image, which means rural hospitals can diagnose patients faster and more effectively.

In addition to the opportunity to work with more patients, the reality is that telehealth — including teleradiology — is becoming widely accepted by patients. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many patients to try this method of care for the first time, and the reception was generally positive. Today, many Americans favor telemedicine — in fact, 35% say they would consider replacing their primary care doctor with a telehealth physician!

Hiring a teleradiology company gives your office the opportunity to impact more patients’ lives than ever before.

How Teleradiology Helps Hospitals

It’s no secret that the medical industry is in the midst of a labor shortage, and radiology is no exception. In the next decade, the United States is expected to have a shortage of 17,000-42,000 radiologists! Teleradiology can help lessen this burden. By working with a teleradiology company, you have access to diagnostic imaging even if your facility doesn’t have a radiologist on staff.

Additionally teleradiology companies can help keep your costs low. When you work with a teleradiology company, your costs are drastically reduced. Teleradiologists can access images from anywhere, so there’s no need to pay for travel expenses or hire a full-time, in-house employee. You can get the same quality patient diagnostics with far less overhead.

It is clear that teleradiology is a benefit to patients and physicians alike — which means it is very likely the future of healthcare. Hiring a teleradiology company for your practice will allow you to serve patients in a faster, economical, and more accessible way.

Contact Vesta to learn more about how teleradiology can help your practice today.

Are you Hiring Healthcare Staff The Right Way?

If you work in healthcare, there’s a good chance you’re currently hiring. The industry has been struggling with a labor shortage for years, and the COVID-19 pandemic caused the number of job openings to climb even more.

healthcare staffing

Across the country, hospitals and healthcare clinics are desperate for employees, and they are recruiting as hard as they can. But are you recruiting the right way? Here are a few tips to help you attract quality candidates.

Background Checks are Essential

Anyone working in healthcare knows that it is vital to conduct a thorough background check on all candidates during the hiring process. Checking up on a candidate’s criminal record, medical licenses, and other data is necessary to keep your patients safe and protect you from massive fines for non-compliance.

However, background checks can also help you select the quality hires that are more likely to stay with your organization — something that’s particularly important in healthcare, an industry with a 19.1% turnover rate. Thorough background checks can help you weed out unreliable candidates and ensure that you hire only the best.

Assess Soft Skills

Obviously, you want your ideal candidate to have the credentials and experience required to fulfill the position you’re hiring. But have you considered the candidate’s soft skills?

Qualities like empathy, teamwork, and communication skills are becoming increasingly important in the healthcare industry. As healthcare becomes more of a consumer-driven market, patients expect medical professionals to be both courteous and qualified. Make sure you seek out prospective employees with both hard and soft skills.

Stay Competitive

The healthcare industry is on the brink of a significant period of job growth. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that healthcare occupations will grow 16 percent from 2020 to 2030, which amounts to about 2.6 million new jobs.

With so many vacancies in the field, medical professionals like doctors, nurses, phlebotomists, and radiologists will have their pick of clinics. If you want them to pick you, it’s important to remain competitive.

Keep your eye on the industry to ensure your recruiting efforts measure up to other healthcare facilities. Make sure your salary offerings, benefits, and opportunities for work-life balance are comparable to other facilities in your area.

If you follow these tips, you’ll be much more likely to attract top talent — and that will lead to significant benefits for your clinic, you, and your patients.

Hiring Radiologists

When it comes to hiring for your radiology department, you might feel like this is the most daunting task. Luckily, teleradiology companies like Vesta offer US Board Certified radiologists who can remotely perform both preliminary and final interpretations for your PET, MRI, MSK, PIP and worker’s comp scans. To learn more, please contact Vesta at 877-558-3782.

Recent Developments in Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has partially crippled the world as we once knew it. Everyone has experienced taking precautions, isolating, vaccinations, and boosters for over two years. Are we making progress?

The contagious virus SARS-CoV-2, also named Covid-19, has been responsible for over 970,000 deaths in the United States alone. New variants have emerged from the virus, but there appear to be fewer cases overall.

Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have been the leading pharmaceutical companies providing preventative vaccinations and vaccine boosters, and Johnson & Johnson has also joined the team for preventive immunizations.

The immunizations and boosters administered have been very effective even though there have been breakthroughs of covid-positive cases. The hospitalization of those patients who tested positive for Covid-19 reduced drastically for the fully vaccinated adults.

This year, both Pfizer and Moderna have requested authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an additional booster to their immunization. The requests were based on the success of the second booster in other countries. The goal is to offer maximum protection to high-risk patients–including adults over the age of 65 and adults with immune-suppressive medical conditions.

The best way anyone can reduce their risk of getting the disease is by getting Covid-19 vaccinations and all the boosters available. The Center for Disease Control’s consistent message to stay healthy continues to be to wear masks in highly populated indoor locations, keep at least 6 feet from others, avoid heavy crowds, and wash our hands.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) still requires face masks on public transportation like buses, planes, and trains. Because of our advancements in the Covid-19 battle, many state legislations have lifted the face mask requirements for restaurants and shopping.

2022 covid news — Face masks have become the norm

Covid testing kits are available from the federal government. Any household in the United States can order up to four rapid tests from www.covidtests.gov or by calling 1-800-232-0233. Medicare beneficiaries can receive up to eight free at-home Covid-19 tests per month in 2022.

In February 2022, the FDA approved a new monoclonal antibody treatment that has shown positive results during treatment against the omicron variant and the omicron sub-variant of Covid-19. This treatment is called Bebtelovimab and is for both adults and children at high risk for severe illness from the Covid-19 variants.

Clinics and Long-Term Care Facilities

Beginning in March 2022, pharmacy-based clinics and long-term care facilities will be able to provide an anti-viral pill for positive-tested individuals. The CDC expects this new “Test to Treat” program to provide immediate help to individuals at high risk and who live in the communities with the most cases.

Even taking all the precautions, some people will come down with Covid-19. There have been various symptoms reported, and these symptoms usually appear within two to fourteen days after exposure. Some of the signs to look out for are:

Fever or chills
Consistent cough
Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
Congestion or runny nose
Body aches and pains
Sore Throat
Headache
Loss of taste or smell
Fatigue
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea

If anyone who tests positive with Covid-19 exposes you or if you test positive, CDC advises you to quarantine for at least five days and wear a mask for at least ten days.

covid symptoms — Those who are positive for COVID need to quarantine

Most patients who test positive with Covid-19 recover at home with rest and plenty of fluids. It is wise for a Covid-positive patient to seek medical or emergency help if they become confused or disoriented, have pale or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds, cannot stay awake, or have pain or pressure in the chest.

Hospitals and research centers are paying attention to the long-term effects of Covid-19. From statistics provided to the CDC, approximately one-third of the Covid-19 patients have lasting symptoms. The CDC recommends seeking medical advice for treatment.

Prevention is key to getting through this challenging time of Covid-19 infections. Taking extra precautions while traveling and visiting others can help each individual and help those who are high-risk stay free from the disease.

We are making progress on overcoming Covid-19. We will save more lives in the battle if we continue practicing preventive measures and stay educated about the most recent findings.

Trends in Ambulatory Care

When an emergency happens, riding in an ambulance may be necessary. Life may be at stake, and the ambulance must get the patient to the hospital as quickly as possible to receive care. Many people understand the ambulance ride is a transitional time, and the medical care begins once the patient arrives at the hospital. That is why they have to hurry. Cars on the road stop or slow down, understanding the urgency.

In recent years, this has changed. Although typically, an ambulance transports a patient, that is not the only thing it does. Some treatments can be performed while riding inside the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

First, CT scanners onboard ambulances have been assessing patients for stroke for many years. An ambulatory stroke center allows treatment to begin before the patient arrives at the hospital, saving precious time. In addition, consultation with a doctor through telemedicine while in an ambulance also aids in treatment. The care offered in these mobile units saves time which has been shown to prevent further damage to the brain.

Second, the practice of diagnostic imaging performed by non-radiologists on an ambulance has grown. In addition to stroke evaluation, ultrasonography of the airways, breathing, circulation, disability, and environment/exposure (ABCDE) has advanced. New ultrasound devices and other diagnostic imaging technology have allowed healthcare professionals to discern needed medical services during ambulatory and aeromedical transport. The information gained through this diagnostic approach supports the care team’s decisions regarding the best treatment and destination.

Third, patient safety awareness has improved. Now the ambulance transport experience can be less stressful. Specific steps keep the patient, family, and staff working together for a successful transition to a care facility. This collaboration entails screening the patient and conferring with the family to identify high-risk priorities and symptoms for the plan of care. Asking the patient their preferences, values, and goals can allow a sense of ownership to the patient fostering their sense of involvement with their transport. Hospital staff discussing paperwork with the family caregivers and patient promotes communication, continuity, and a sense of trust. Educating the family and patient about how the transport will be coordinated helps maintain relationships with all involved and provides a secure and seamless ambulatory experience.

Over the past decade, the information management and care coordination associated with ambulance transport has increased. Due to diagnostic imaging and a shifting focus on ambulance capability, a pre-hospital point of care culture has evolved. This focus has aided prompt and appropriate medical care and improved patient quality of life.

Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging

If you are concerned that your ambulance unit cannot support the amount of time it takes to review screening results, that’s where Vesta comes in. With over 15 years of experience, Vesta provides telemedicine and teleradiology services to fill in those gaps for your healthcare facility and ambulatory units. With 24 x 7, 365 year round service, Vesta Teleradiology employs US Board Certified radiologists to receive and expertly interpret ambulance diagnostic imaging.

Patient Safety Awareness Week: What Can Imaging Centers Do?

The foundation of health care lies with a diagnosis. Sometimes, medical professionals have barriers to providing an accurate diagnosis because they do not have the lab space or time.

This is where medical imaging centers offer invaluable assistance.

What are Imaging Centers?

Imaging centers are medical facilities run by board-certified and trained radiologists, emphasizing diagnostic and preventive healthcare. They provide a host of diagnostic tools and scans to protect and maintain your health by detecting health issues in their early stages.

What Can Imaging Centers Do?

Medical imaging centers use imaging diagnostic tools, and early-detection radiology scans to provide the following preventative screening services:

Heart Scan: This exam is a pain-free, non-invasive, highly accurate scan that only takes five minutes.

Lung Scan: Those who have ever smoked may be at higher risk for lung cancer, which can be detected with a low radiation scan.

Virtual Colonoscopy: This minimally invasive and accurate scan should be done every five years, and it is so gentle that patients do not require anesthesia.

Diagnostic Tools

Imaging centers have various tools and scans that allow physicians to monitor your health and notice potential problems. These machines often include:

X-Rays: Most people have taken at least one x-ray in their lifetime, typically at the dentist or hospital. They are a non-invasive and pain-free procedure that gives doctors a look inside the body.

MRI: A magnetic resonance imaging scan is another non-invasive diagnostic tool that creates images of your body’s internal systems using radio waves and magnets. MRIs are usually more detailed and are a safe way to diagnose and prevent issues.

CT scan: Computed tomography scan works in tandem with specialized x-ray equipment and state-of-the-art computer systems to produce highly detailed images of the inside of the body, which can be used to identify and treat medical conditions.

PET/CT scan: A positron emission tomography scan is an imaging test that looks for signs of disease within the body by injecting tracers into the vein and following them under a PET scanner. This is a great way to visualize how well your tissues and organs are functioning.

When you work with an imaging center, you work alongside medical experts, including board-certified cardiologists, radiologists, pathologists, teleradiologists, and other subspecialists.

Benefits of Imaging Centers

The primary benefit of imaging centers is that they help medical professionals to detect and diagnose any disease at its most treatable, early stages. These diagnostic tools are essential in helping patients heal and survive. When you catch a medical issue early, you reduce the need for costly and invasive procedures.

Imaging center employees have the dual responsibility of caring for their patients while advocating for their safety throughout the process. Radiology and diagnostic tools, while minimally invasive, still present specific patient safety issues. Radiologists must ensure that patients and staff are protected from being directly harmed.

Patient Safety Tips

Imaging centers can increase patient safety by ensuring that the environment is kept sanitary, quiet, with restorative lighting to encourage patient rest.

Creating a safe patient environment involves more than ensuring patient happiness. It involves high-quality patient care that is effective and efficient.

As part of a team caring for patients, radiologists are responsibility for patient safety, which can involve:

Create safety systems and protocols that the staff can follow
Limit radiation exposure by reducing unnecessary image scanning
Encourage patient and family engagement and advocacy
Keep clinic sanitary and follow safety protocols
Monitor procedures to minimize error or miscommunication
Practice patient education and communication
Place a high priority on patient safety and care throughout all staff workers
Develop an effective and reliable team for flawless patient care

Patient safety is a crucial aspect of patient care and involves engaging and educating patients and their families. Health care providers are tasked to listen to their patients to support patient safety initiatives.

Teleradiology Services from Vesta

Vesta’s Teleradiology services benefit your healthcare facility because our processes integrate with your workflow. This level of efficiency helps you to better serve your patient with the quality care they need.

Benefits of Teleradiology Services for Urgent Care Facilities

Urgent care facility service use has increased substantially in recent years. Urgent care services’ popularity has provided conveniences and cost reductions of medical care needs.

When a patient enters an urgent care facility, the treating provider determines if radiology services will aid in the diagnosis and treatment plan for the patient. A medical assistant or radiology technician will then use the equipment to produce the radiological images.

Once the technician creates the radiological images, the treating provider will view and diagnose or send the images to an expert at the teleradiology service contracted with the facility.

Broken bones are not the only reason an urgent care patient may access care at a convenient, local care medical facility. Patients arrive at the facilities for possible strokes, abdominal obstructions, complex pediatric ailments, and other health conditions. Expert radiological assessments can be crucial in practical and immediate treatment.

When a patient who needs radiology services accesses an urgent care facility, fast and professional analysis is essential for effective treatment.

Teleradiology services have fit in nicely with the goals and objectives of the urgent care facilities for various reasons. Not all patients accessing urgent care need radiology services. Although the service can be life-saving if required, the low rate of use does not warrant the staffing of a full-time radiologist at each facility.

Contracting radiology services for these facilities allows a full-time expert to be available at all times, and these cost savings of a full-time employee are significant.

Teleradiology services allow a physician to access experts anywhere in the country. The pool of providers is not only available at any time, but a radiology expert’s conclusive reports can be sent securely and quickly.

radiology company — A radiologist reviews an x-ray

If the treating physician has questions about any findings, the radiology expert is easy to reach. This convenience is also possible if the patient or physician requests a second opinion on the results.

With the convenience of radiological expertise availability, urgent care providers can also reduce their professional liability. Providers creating treatment plans for various injuries and symptoms can benefit an urgent care facility contracted with a teleradiological service. Many teleradiology service companies provide a resource for physician consultation.

Choosing a Teleradiology Company for Your Hospital

Contracting with a teleradiology service can reduce liability for the urgent care facility while increasing and maintaining an excellent public reputation.

The medical care profession has changed drastically over the years, and so have the healthcare consumers. Consumers expect better service, insurance companies expect more conservative costs, and treating physicians need fast results with less liability.

Teleradiology fits nicely into the niche of urgent care facilities because it fits all the criteria of a rapidly changing medical system structure. Teleradiology can be a crucial component for a clinic to provide an ideal service of expert care at an exceptional value.

Teleradiology: Best Providers

Vesta has been providing expert radiology services for over 15 years. We use state of the art technology to streamline your workflow and provide stat readings whenever required. Whether you operate an urgent care center or a private practice our US Board Certified Radiologists are here to help you literally 24×7, even on weekends and nights.

teleradiology services — Teleradiologists review an x-ray

Please contact us for a custom proposal and a complimentary overview of our services and technology.

Professional Healthcare Workers: Overcoming Burnout

Healthcare workers on the brink of burnout often feel overwhelmed and out of control. It is difficult for them to describe the exhaustion and fatigue they experience–even at the beginning of a work shift. These feelings intensify as the relentless weeks continue.

burnout radiologist

A worker’s burnout symptoms can surface in many ways. It can be recognized by a worker’s inability to identify with their job, feelings of inadequacy in their profession, and a weariness that blankets their personal and professional lives.

Front line health workers have little relief from the expectations of their jobs, and they experience constant requests from people in pain and with desperate needs. Also, staff shortages plague the industry, spreading the work responsibilities to a minimal amount of workers.

Most health care professionals enter the field with a sincere desire to help other people, but the extreme emotional pressure of the profession can drain even the most dedicated individuals.

Every person’s strategy to get through difficult times is as different as the circumstances that perpetuated the feelings of burnout. Taking just a few minutes to evaluate what has worked in the past is helpful in realizing a starting point for an individualized healing plan.

As a healthcare team or individual, it is constructive to prepare a list of self-care evaluations and strategies to tailor healing plans. Healthcare workers rarely consider self-care at the top of their list of things to do.

A written checklist reduces the need for a person to think about how to fix yet another problem and provides an avenue to an instant action plan when a healthcare worker’s emotions and nerves are frayed.

Checklist Suggestions

Would a walk or run be helpful right now?
Do you need a safe distance between yourself and others?
Sit down, close your eyes and breathe in to the count of 4 and breathe out to the count of 4. Continue until you can relax your shoulders.
Would exercise before work be helpful? Maybe walking or riding your bike to work might give you emotional preparation time for the shift?
Do you need fun activities like dancing, singing, camping, or anything else that may give you pleasure? Schedule the time to do that right now.
Are you eating healthy food?
Are you drinking enough fluids to stay hydrated?
Are you sleeping well? If not, what will help you sleep 7 to 9 needed hours?
Are you increasing the use of alcohol and other drugs? If so, do you need help?
Are you staying in contact with family and friends for added support?
Do you need a friend? Remember, you are part of a team–you are not alone. Many others are working alongside you with similar circumstances or feelings.
Do you need additional emotional support?
Would journaling about your feelings be helpful to you?

burnout healthcare

The purpose of this checklist is to allow ideas to flow and assist a person in defining the individual needs at any given time. This process also allows healthcare workers to remain in control of their decisions for change.

Management can be instrumental in providing their Healthcare Workers with the needed support to avoid staff burnout. Management can provide added recognition to staff members for the work they do and structure a work environment that encourages self-care.

Vesta Teleradiology: here for you, even on weekends

Vesta – an tech-driven, patient-centered radiology solutions provider–understands the importance of giving healthcare workers the time they need to recharge and rest. That’s why our radiologists work day, nights, weekends and holidays. Look to Vesta for reliable, outsourced radiology interpretations and customized reports for your patients.

Innovations in Cardiac Imaging

In 1895, Wilhelm Rontgen accidentally discovered X-rays. Since then, imaging technology has drastically advanced in all areas of healthcare, including cardiac imaging.

Medical professionals in the 1960s were using ultrasound imaging, and technicians developed Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography in the 1970s. With these tools, the advancement of cardiac imaging escalated, creating real-time diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.

Advancing technology allowed cardiac physicians to perform diagnostic cardiac imaging like echocardiography and myocardial perfusion imaging in their medical offices. The trend for in-office imaging moved more to hospital settings because of the reduction of reimbursement rates in 2005 and the rapid technological changes in the industry.

Innovative technology advancement has needed to be a conglomeration of industrial, government, and academic research for cardiac imagery development to advance. Engineers, industry clinicians, and scientists have all participated in any advancements.

Two technology areas in cardiac imaging have had significant development over the past 15 years–nuclear cardiology and echocardiography.

Nuclear Cardiology

Nuclear Cardiology uses noninvasive techniques to assess and evaluate blood flow and define the internal location of a heart attack.

Commonly called positron emissions tomography (PET scans) or Computed X-ray tomography (CT scans), physicians can use this technology to discover the extent of heart muscle damage and the heart’s pumping function.

Nuclear Cardiology has proven to be a superior method for safe and cost-effective diagnosis. Technicians have upgraded cameras, giving physicians higher sensitivity and resolution views than the previous models used.

Echocardiography

Echocardiography uses sound waves to display moving pictures of how heart chambers and valves work. This process can define areas where the heart muscles are not receiving adequate blood flow.

Physicians use echocardiography to locate possible blood clots within the heart and problems with the aorta. Physicians can also detect fluid buildup in the heart’s surrounding sac using echocardiography.

Echocardiography helps detect pediatric heart conditions because of the painless efficiency of the study.

The Future of Cardiac Imagery

Specialists have improved every technological aspect of cardiovascular practice within the past 50 years. Superior refinements in resolutions, measurement processes, and efficiency improve existing processes.

As with most technology-based sciences, the miniaturization of electrocardiography equipment will be the trend. Pocket-sized devices and combining diagnostic modalities through apps and computer applications will keep pace with changing health care practices.

Software development to capture real-time cardiac function and define the health of myocardial tissue is part of the newer developments in the field. Technicians are also refining more affordable methods of Cardiac MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) through research.

A shift in diagnostic technology is advancing in identifying and decreasing cardiovascular risk in patients. Improved imagery will better equip physicians in preventing adverse outcomes. Physicians can more easily define patients’ risk of cardiac issues during exercise and stress-induced blood flow issues.

Another benefit to early detection and assessment of the cardiac disease process through imagery will be a better understanding of all the cardiac elements involved, leading to the development of new pharmaceutical drugs to prolong patient lives.

cardiac imaging tech — New innovations in cardiac imaging

Cardiac Imagery will always be one of the best diagnostic tools available. Physicians and research teams assessing the cost-effectiveness and better patient outcomes will define the best approaches and safety in patient care management.

Outsourced Radiology

Vesta Radiologists are versed a cardiac imaging reading and a variety of other subspecialties. Further, we work nights and weekends so your staff can get the needed rest they require.

Please contact Vesta for outsourced radiology needs at 1-877-55-VESTA