Vesta Teleradiology

Top 5 Essential Health Screenings For Women

Without a doubt, it is far better to catch any disease in its earliest stages. Screening allows for early detection and more effective treatment. Below are the top five screenings every woman should have to detect and prevent diseases.

Mammogram- 1 in 8 women will have breast cancer at some point in their lives. For some women this occurs earlier than others. The general guideline is that women ages 40 to 44 should have mammograms. However, if a family history or a genetic predisposition to breast cancer is present, it is more important than ever to get annual screenings.

Cervical –

A Pap smear or HPV test can find irregularities in cells that point to cervical cancer in the early stages. If signs of cervical cancer are detected a transvaginal, transrectal, or an MRI should be performed to ascertain the extent of the cancer or tumor.

Bone Density-

After age 65, it is recommended that all women get a bone density screening. Practitioners can utilize x-ray, body CT, spine CT or a bone density scan to assess the progression of osteoporosis

Cholesterol

Blood tests can detect high cholesterol. To further evaluate vessels in the heart, doctors can use a CAC test, a type of CT scan. According to the American Heart Association, patients aged 40 to 75 should receive this screening, especially when the risk of heart disease can’t be determined.

Colorectal Cancer

The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends women over the age of fifty-five should get a colorectal examination. Colonoscopy, CT colonography, and flexible sigmoidoscopy are used for visual detection of colorectal cancer.

Over the past 30 years, there have been many advancements in radiology that allow for better imaging and faster screening. With three dimensional and cross-sectional imaging, practitioners can get a better view of areas of concern and catch cancers or other diseases in their earliest stages. Moreover, electronic transmission enables radiologists to read screenings remotely for a quicker turnaround time.

Helping your Patients get Screened

Even with these advancements, education is key in encouraging women to get screening. There is a tried and true saying —when you know better, you do better. Education can be employed in a variety of ways. Do you operate a women’s wellness clinic? You want to spread the right information that can save your patients’ lives. Here are a few tips to do just that:

Newsletters are cost-effective and can have a far-reaching impact. It is important to utilize personal stories, so that patients can put a face to the statistics. These often create a connection with patients as well. Women can see themselves in the stories of other women.
Newsletters a a great way to spread the word about the importance of screening

Virtual events are more convenient for patients than the traditional fundraising events, especially in the age of COVID. Not to mention, they are also cost-effective. The virtual events can also utilize statistics, personal stories, and discussions by doctors in the field.

Imaging centers should work with doctors to encourage them to speak with their patients about the importance of screenings, as patients rely on their doctors for the majority of their information.

Early screening is often overlooked. However, it is of the utmost importance to encourage patients to get regular screenings to allow for ear detection and treatment. Doing so can save lives.

Teleradiology Services

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

Whether your facility is in a major city or is a satellite in a rural town, we can help.

Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month: Advancements Through the Ages

Ultrasounds—to many not in the medical field, the image of a woman getting her pregnant belly examined is often something that comes to mind first. However, as medical industry professionals, we understand that ultrasounds go way beyond that.

ultrasounds

It’s really amazing to actually look at the history and advancement of such an important diagnostic tool especially during October–Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month.

In simple terms, the ultrasound scan isn’t just a medical device that can help track the development of a baby during pregnancy. The ultrasound scan can also help with the following:

Observing the ovaries and uterus
Evaluating blood flow
Diagnosing gallbladder disease
Examining a lump in the breast
Checking thyroid glands
Guiding a needle
Diagnosing prostate issues

This machine is non-invasive, safe, and does not use ionizing radiation.

History of Ultrasound

The first recorded use of the ultrasound was in 1794 when Italian physiologist Lazzaro Spallanzani used ultrasound to study how bats navigated at night. This became the foundation for modern ultrasound physics.

Bats produce ultrasounds in order to catch prey.

Ultrasound was initially used to detect flaws in metal casings. It was not used clinically until 1956 by Dr. Ian Donald and Tom Brown. There are no known side effects for ultrasound, making it an incredibly safe and efficient imaging device.

Advancements in Ultrasound

Ultrasound machines have become progressively mobile, easy to carry, and smaller while providing high-quality imaging. Since they are non-invasive and cost-effective, doctors can use them to track patient development without the risk of radiation.

Ultrasound technology can allow us to have an excellent view of the body’s vascular system by tracking microbubbles. 3-D imaging is also possible for more precise diagnostics.

As technology continues to expand, our medical devices tend to shrink inversely. Now, medical professionals can increase their diagnostic capabilities from anywhere in the world. For example, some handheld ultrasound devices weigh under a pound and can hook up to your smartphone, help healthcare providers quickly scan their patients—and possibly save lives.

These economical, easy-to-handle devices can change lives globally, predominantly in rural areas. It’s exciting to think that we may only be seeing the beginning of the modern ultrasound age.

How Teleradiology Can Help

Teleradiology, also referred to as remote radiology, provides medical professionals instant imaging result views remotely. This means that patients have access to better, more immediate health care.

teleradiology services Studies suggest that teleradiology offers benefits, including the availability of second opinions and the possibility for remote viewing services. We at Vesta can certainly attest to this! Our clients – hospitals, urgent car centers, physician offices, mobile imaging companies, diagnostic imaging centers, and government institutions—enjoy cost-effective and unrivaled Teleradiology and Telemedicine services any time of day or night.

AI Advancements to Watch for in Radiology

Over recent years, radiology has seen many advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). Since medical imaging produces 90% of all healthcare data, radiologists have experienced a heavy workload for years. The COVID pandemic increased the backlog of radiologists, due to shutdowns and COVID regulations.

new tech in radiology

Many have turned to AI as a solution to this problem, citing its numerous benefits in several aspects of imaging. AI allows radiologist departments to get more done in a shorter period of time by automating administrative tasks like paperwork, scheduling, and tracking follow-ups, while also prioritizing certain tasks for a more streamlined process.

However AI is able to do much more than that. It can sort through data and images, quickly giving physicians the best, most relevant information. Moreover, new AI algorithms also pick up on complex images and markers found in scans, findings that might not be visible to humans. This combination allows radiologists to run the information through an AI program for a second opinion and quicker analysis of the data.

Examples of AI in Radiology at Work

AI is currently being widely used in emergency medicine to alert physicians if a patient has a life-threatening condition, like a collapsed lung. The system will filter out unnecessary images and prioritize critical conditions. Additionally, physicians are using AI for stroke patients to reformat images, which allows for a faster processing time. Some of the same processes are being used for brain scans as well, choosing the most relevant images for doctors to save on overall processing time.

Outside of critical care, AI is increasingly allowing physicians to work with other departments more efficiently. Hospitals in rural areas and less developed areas without radiology departments will be able to implement AI to flag certain images as well.

Artificial intelligence is also playing a vital role in the field of oncology. Deep-learning methods have been employed to detect breast cancer in patients by teaching algorithms to draw connections between scans. Google is developing a CT scan that will produce 3D images of the lungs from 2D images, so cancer can be detected more efficiently.

There has been talk of AI replacing radiologists, but many say that is not ever going to be the case. AI still has many limitations. As stated by Walach, an AI expert and developer, said “AI solutions are becoming very good at doing one thing very well. You typically have to have humans who do more than one thing really well.”

AI developers rumor that AI will eventually replace radiologists, but Vesta has been in the radiology field long enough to know that AI, while very useful and complementary, it will never replace the keen eye and skills of radiologists. Vesta is a consultant of few AI developers and has been integrating the technology in its process, but does not rely solely on its findings.

radiologist

With the help of more research studies on artificial intelligence, the field of radiology will see continued growth, allowing for precision and efficiency. However, traditional radiology and teleradiology will still require trained experts to run the AI programs and discern using their expert knowledge to ensure patients are treated with the best of care.

With Vesta Teleradiology, our US Board Certified radiologists work with you to deliver customizable, and accurate reports. At Vesta, we treat AI as not Artificial Intelligence but Augmented Intelligence to help radiologists improve the quality and efficiency of their reads. How can we help your healthcare facility?

Covid: Maintaining Safety in the Workplace

As we head into the last quarter of the year, it’s good to review safety procedures and protocols especially as they relate to COVID-19 and emerging variants. Are you operating a nursing home, women’s wellness center, community clinic, outpatient imaging center? Let’s take care to make sure our workers and patients are safe and feel comfortable to continue their routine exams and screenings.

Freshen up on best practices you should implement at your facility to ensure end-to-end safety for both patients and workers.

Don’t Forget the Basics

A wellness check can be performed before entering. Taking the patron’s temperature with a laser gun and asking a series of questions pertaining to their health can offer a baseline comparison to assess if they are well and able to enter at that time. Providing masks to anyone who needs them is also vital.

Requiring hand sanitizing before entering the facility is usual practice in many facilities. Having alcohol-based hand sanitizer and washing stations accessible throughout the facility is one defense. Washing hands at certain times can be required for general cleanliness and hand hygiene.

Wearing PPE while in the facility can help prevent the spread. Approved facemasks, goggles, gloves, hair nets, shoe coverings, and more can be implemented at the job site. These pieces provides a barrier between a person’s skin, mouth, nose, and eyes, and viral or bacterial infection.

covid

Maintaining distance can help. Workers making sure they are at least six feet from one another should be a goal. Doctors and nurses beginning appointments with patients by getting initial information through an iPad remotely from the next room can minimize time spent face-to-face. Another way to maintain distance is to manage patient flow—the fewer people on-site at any given time, the better.

While everyone should constantly be cleaning their area throughout the day, having a designated cleaning person with knowledge of which cleaners to use on which surfaces can increase this effort. For example, hydrogen peroxide kills Coronavirus on metallic surfaces. Otherwise, soap and water, bleach, or 70% alcohol-based cleaner to wipe down high-touch surfaces throughout the day has proven to eliminate Coronavirus.

temperature checks — A woman gets her temperature checked

Education

Providing literature, statistics, news and local information regarding COVID-19 can be made available throughout healthcare facilities for those interested in learning more.

Supplement information can also be made available. In addition to taking vitamins C and D on a daily basis, zinc, essential oils, probiotics, and other immune-building substances can be emphasized. Attaining optimal nutritional status can bolster immunity and protect against disease.

Imaging and COVID Safety

If you operate diagnostic imaging tools like x-rays, MR machines, CAT scan machines, you should be very wary of your safety procedures for those who either have COVID or may be a Person Under Investigation for COVID. The American College of Radiology has guidance on these situations as they relate to MR use:

“For patients with known active COVID-19 infection and Persons Under Investigation (PUI) for COVID-19, the American College of Radiology (ACR) recommends that practitioners minimize the use of MR except when absolutely necessary, and postpone all non-urgent or non-emergent exams. In some cases, the use of alternative imaging methods such as point of care or portable imaging may be appropriate. As with all imaging, the impact of the results of the imaging must potentially affect imminent clinical management.” More here.

For questions about proper cleaning and disinfection of imaging equipment, consult with the manufacturer of your machines and check with the CDC for guidance.

Check out this interesting read: COVID-19 pandemic: Cleaning and disinfection – What should the radiologist know?

Healthcare facilities have the power to serve and protect their communities. They have the responsibility to inform, educate, and heal. They can take action for the well-being of their workers, patients, and the public.

At Vesta Teleradiology

Even though we are a remote radiology company, we ensure the best sanitizing, disinfecting, and cleaning protocols in our offices. And of course, with such technology that our teleradiology services come with, our services are contactless and touch-free. When you partner with us, a Gateway application is installed remotely to allow your systems direct access to our PACS. Once linked, your technicians send exams straight from your machine to our PACS. Vesta account specialists assign it to the proper physician who read and dictate the report, it’s uploaded to your branded template where it’s easily accessible for your facility to access and download!

With Vesta’s solutions, we offer a user-friendly portal for physicians to view all reports as soon as they’re available, and they are customizable, too with your facility’s information and logo. Any critical findings are immediately shared with the facility via phone, email or text.

For more information or for a quote, please contact us.

Prostate Cancer Awareness: Encouraging Patients to Get Screened

Prostate cancer kills 34,130 men each year. With screening, this number can be dramatically decreased. Early detection allows for more treatment options and increased efficacy of treatment. However, many men are reluctant to get screened. So, the question healthcare providers (and organizations that service them like diagnostic imaging centers, mobile imaging, wellness centers, radiology centers, hospitals) and advocates are left to ponder is—how do we encourage men to get screened?

prostate exam — How do you encourage men to get screened for prostate cancer?

Education is the most important factor to increase the rate of screening among men. Numerous studies have found that men educated on the topic of prostate cancer are more willing to get screened. In particular, one study found a significant correlation between education and whether or not a man agreed to screening.

That same study found that many men do not get screened if there are no symptoms present. As is well known in the medical community, prostate cancer in its early stages often presents with no symptoms. Educating men on this single fact would be very helpful, but it is equally important to inform them about the risk factors, symptoms, screening procedures, early detection, and treatment options. So, what approach is best for educating reluctant men?

It’s a Digital World

Brochures are things of the past. In today’s world, the best way to get information out there is through the digital mediums ever present at our fingertips. The good news is there are a variety of them. Below are some ideas for spreading information effectively online.

cancer screening — A man reads information about the importance of healthcare screenings

Social Media: Men and women are constantly scrolling Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Social media campaigns with eye-catching infographics and videos help spread the word. Ads can target men and women, as women play a vital role in spreading awareness and educating their partners.
Newsletters: Informational newsletters sent via email to both general practitioners and patients are another avenue for educating patients at a relatively low cost to healthcare providers.
Virtual Events: Through the COVID pandemic, virtual events have become increasingly popular. Providers should take note of this cost-effective trend. These events give providers a platform to provide in-depth education about prostate cancer and screening. They can also open lines of communication with patients, allowing men to ask questions and voice their concerns, while giving insight into areas where information strategies can be improved. Additionally, some men, reluctant to attend an in-person event, might be more willing to attend a virtual event.
Personal Stories: Whenever possible, it’s important to put a face to the statistics. The number above represents fathers, brothers, husbands, and uncles. With the popularity of sites like TikTok and YouTube, video is being looked to as one the most successful mediums for information-sharing. Through video, personal stories can be told in an effective and meaningful way that will both educate and connect with at-risk men. People often do not remember statistics, yet they do remember feelings.

If this country, as a whole, has learned anything throughout this past year, it is to be flexible. Experimenting with different messaging styles and mediums is important. Don’t be too rigid with any one approach. See what kind of response you get from a particular message or campaign and adjust accordingly. Just remember, you can never go wrong by getting creative.

Teleradiology

Our radiologists at Vesta are trained in all modalities including reading scans for prostate cancer. When your radiologists are not available such as nights, weekends or holidays, our US Board Certified radiologists are here to help fill in those gaps.

Benefits of Teleradiology

Teleradiology Benefits

Teleradiology–what an innovative solution for healthcare providers and patients alike! You can simply think of teleradiology like having a radiologist on-call 24/7 for reading and interpreting all types of scans: MRIs, X-rays, CTs, DEXA, PET, DR, mammograms and other images.

What’s more, is that teleradiology enhances the level of patient care and support, because it allows radiologists to extend their expertise to patients and physicians without having to be physically there with them.

Teleradiology is efficient and cost-effective! Save on administrative costs associated with in-house radiology like travel and printing.

A Partnership in Healthcare

Teleradiology offers chances for medical professionals to partner with one another when barriers of physical distance are present, allowing for substantial professional input regarding various diagnoses and symptoms.

A teleradiology company like Vesta can work specifically with each healthcare facility–be it a hospital, outpatient imaging center, assisted living facility or mobile imaging provider–to offer cost-effective and customizable solutions.

Burnout, Retirement and Staff Shortage

We’re noticing specifically that the pandemic pushed many radiologists to retirement. Many hospital and outpatient systems have consolidated their radiology departments which prevents radiologists from providing services outside the system.

What’s more is that the stress healthcare workers feel can mount and burnout results. This can lead to mental health issues and even failure to properly read scans.

burnout radiologist — Mental health and physicians

Where can Vesta Teleradiology help? We offer consultation for all imaging modalities and we can deliver reports with fast turnaround for both STAT and Routine studies.

Your staff is important–they don’t always work around the clock and shouldn’t have to. With our teleradiology services, we fill in those gaps whether it’s during night hours, weekends, holidays–we provide 24x7x365 services. Nighthawk teleradiology coverage allows us to deliver the information your patients need and deserve.

Failure to Properly Read Xrays, Mammograms, CAT Scans, and Other Diagnostic Tools: The Dangers

Every single day, healthcare facilities across America perform countless diagnostic procedures. These include x-rays, mammograms, CAT scans, and more, but they all have a common goal: to help healthcare workers gain a better understanding of their patients’ conditions.

failure to read — Imaging reading errors

Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. While many hospitals and doctor’s offices are outfitted with top-of-the-line diagnostic tools, too often healthcare workers fail to read the results properly. These diagnostic errors can lead to delayed treatment or improper diagnoses — and that mistake can be extremely costly for the patient, the healthcare professional, and the facility where they work.

What is a Diagnostic Error?

Simply put, a diagnostic error is any failure to explain a patient’s health problem in a correct and timely manner. This can mean failing to spot a health issue (failing to notice a mass in a mammogram) or incorrectly diagnosing a problem (naming benign calcification present on a mammogram as cancerous masses).

Unfortunately, diagnostic errors are much more common — and more costly — than you might think. The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine reports that diagnostic error is responsible for 40,000-80,000 American deaths every year!

The Risks of Misreading

What happens if one of your physicians misreads a diagnostic machine? If that mistake leads to delayed care, improper treatment, or serious harm to the patient, you might be in for a malpractice lawsuit.

The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine also reports that diagnostic errors account for the largest fraction of malpractice claims in the country — and they are awarded the highest total of penalty payouts.

Patients can sue their healthcare providers for misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, or delayed diagnosis if that diagnostic error caused them significant harm, and the average payout for a diagnostic error is around $494,000. No facility wants to cause their patients harm (or take on that financial penalty), so it is critical to avoid diagnostic error as much as possible.

How To Prevent Imaging Reading Errors

How can you prevent diagnostic errors in your healthcare facility? The best thing you can do is make sure your workers are not spread too thin. If your doctors, nurses, and other healthcare staff are overworked and stressed, they’re more likely to make mistakes.

night coverage radiology — Vesta offers fast turnaround times and night coverage.

One great way to avoid these errors is to outsource your radiology work to a teleradiology company. Teleradiology companies can alleviate some of the stress on your staff, and having a team of dedicated radiologists on your side can help ensure that every test is read appropriately.

You cannot afford to go with just any teleradiology company. Vesta not only has expert, US Board Certified Radiologists, we offer customized reporting, nighthawk coverage and fast tat (fast turnaround times).

Contact Vesta Teleradiology today to see how our teleradiology services can help your facility avoid errors and provide better patient care.

The Importance of Mental Health for Healthcare Workers

Working in healthcare is certainly not for the faint of heart. The doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other healthcare professionals in our hospitals today are constantly facing high-pressure, high-stakes situations — and their work undoubtedly takes a toll on their mental health.

How can mental health issues impact the healthcare workers in your office? What can you do to help them find a little peace? Here’s what you need to know.

The Facts

Healthcare has always been a stressful line of work. The very nature of the job requires long, unusual hours, uncooperative patients, and sometimes even life or death situations — hardly a walk in the park. It was not uncommon to hear of physicians and nurses suffering from burnout and losing their passion for their field due to all the stress.

And that was BEFORE the pandemic.

Now, there is no question that healthcare workers are suffering from a mental health crisis. According to a survey of healthcare workers by Mental Health America, 75% of workers reported feeling overwhelmed in recent months, 86% reported increased anxiety, and (perhaps most disappointingly) 39% of workers felt they didn’t have the adequate emotional support to deal with their current mental state.

The Dangers

So, what does all this mean?

Today’s healthcare workers are stressed, exhausted, and stretched too thin, and this can have significant impacts on the care they provide. In fact, a survey from Berxi revealed that one in three healthcare workers admitted to making more mistakes on the job since the pandemic began! This puts all your patients in greater harm and puts your facility at risk for all kinds of legal action.

The Solutions

If you want the patients in your facility to receive excellent care (and if you want to avoid lawsuits that arise from accidental malpractice), you need to give your workers the support they need to cope with the stress of working on the frontlines of a pandemic.

There are many ways to give your workers support. You can offer them free time with a counselor via remote sessions, or even assign each worker a buddy they can talk with each day about the stressors they’re facing. Sometimes, a listening ear can be hugely helpful in easing stress and avoiding burnout.

Teleradiology Solution

Another great option for helping your staff’s mental health is to lighten the load they have to carry. For example, you can outsource work for your radiology department to a teleradiology company. This can keep your radiologists from being stretched too thin, so they can provide your patients with the care and attention they deserve.

Visit our website today to learn more about teleradiology and how it can help your workers recover from some of their workplace stress. At Vesta, we offer fast turnaround times (TAT) to satisfy your patients’ needs as well as night coverage for STAT requirements.

vesta teleradiology night coverage — We offer nighthawk teleradiology with fast TAT.

5 Tips for Women’s Wellness Healthcare Facility

The fitness and wellness industry has become one of the biggest markets in the world. If you are the owner of a women’s health or wellness center, there is great potential for growth in this $3.4 trillion industry. This competitive industry is constantly creating new approaches to attract patients. If you are searching for new ideas to enhance your wellness center and the care for your patients, here are 5 tips for increasing patient flow.

A woman discusses the treatment with her patient

Offer educational workshops and speakers. Being able to have a cup of coffee and listen to an informed speaker on a subject of interest can bring in more patients. Those who want to help themselves or improve their life will like this approach. Stress-free opportunities to listen and learn about money management, cooking, gardening, yoga, fashion, or more could entice women with enjoying a nonthreatening space to absorb information. These could be mini-breakout sessions of an upcoming wellness conference which may interest participants to attend.
Bundle services. Having one facility that offers multiple services is attractive. Women are busy. Their time is valuable. If there was an opportunity to make one stop to take care of a mammogram, pedicure, and haircut (for example) many women would like this option. In addition, having a nonjudgmental environment to talk to a therapist on a variety of topics such as mental health issues, menopause, and sexual health could bring in more patients.
Act as a safehouse. Employing experienced professionals who have the awareness and abilities to support women in crisis is needed in every city in the world. Doctors, psychologists, and lawyers on site who are in place to readily protect and prevent violence against women and their children will attract patients. Partnering with local authorities may bring wellness center funding opportunities.
Incorporate wellness retreats. Offering purposeful, affordable, well designed retreats for specific groups allows wellness opportunities beyond the wellness center facility. Programs organized with the intentional components of mental, emotional, physical, and social can provide transformational experiences for patients. These deep connections can be life changing and create interest in future retreats.
Outsource your radiology imaging needs to a reliable teleradiology service. With this service, a patient can have her mammogram, ultrasound, or other imaging service performed, screened, and sent digitally to all parties involved. The image and its information is compressed and encrypted and stored in a database server accessed by the radiologist, provider, transcriber, and other workers across geographically diverse facilities. The final report is automatically sent to the doctor and the original facility. This saves time and allows you to focus more on attracting new patients.

Vesta Teleradiology has been assisting Women’s Wellness centers, hospitals, mobile imaging, assisted living and other diagnostic imaging centers for nearly 15 years. It’s not just our speedy service and accurate readings from US Board Certified radiologists, it’s our ability to help you customize the service to tailor it to your facility and patients. Look to Vesta if you want accuracy, speed, affordability, support and customization.

How Does Mobile Imaging Help Improve Patient Care at an Assisted Living Facility?

As radiography technology has evolved, so has the experience of the typical resident in a nursing home or assisted living facility. X-rays, CT scans, and ultrasounds are commonly needed to help diagnose residents of these communities with an appropriate treatment plan. The availability of mobile imaging improves patient care and quality of life in a multitude of ways.

assisted living teleradiology — Mobile imaging provides easier access for residents requiring these services.

1. Improved Access

With the immediate availability of mobile imaging onsite, more patients can access this type of diagnostic care. In a study conducted by BMC Health Services, researchers found that without mobile access, the use of diagnostic imaging for nursing home patients decreased by almost a third, from 14,500 to only 10,305. This data suggests that the ease of access to mobile radiography ensures that more patients receive the diagnostic care they need.

2. Fewer Transfers

Many risks are associated with transferring the elderly, especially those with mobility issues. By keeping radiology onsite, fewer transfers to hospitals and other centers will need to occur. A study in Norway found that transfers to a hospital’s radiology department were avoided in 71 percent of cases. This dramatic difference makes patient care simpler and more streamlined, and more importantly, it affords fewer opportunities for the elderly to sustain injuries, thereby increasing patient safety.

teleradiology for nursing home — There are risks associated with transferring the elderly, especially those who have mobility issues.

3. Reduced Spread of Contagious Diseases

The use of mobile imaging can help reduce the spread of contagious diseases like COVID-19. Rather than transferring patients out to imaging centers and increasing the number of people they come into contact with, a nursing home can have in-house imaging staff. A study out of Italy showed the potential for mobile imaging to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when certain safety protocols were followed.

4. Faster Imaging Results

A study conducted in Norway by BMC Health Services Research looked at the results of mobile imaging and found it to be of the same quality as hospital imaging. This research also concluded mobile radiography leads to a faster diagnosis. Offsite imaging can equate to days or weeks of wait time for interpreting results. If a scan is faulty and a patient needs to return for another scan, this wait time can become detrimentally long. With faster results, doctors can work quickly to begin treatment and improve outcomes.

5. Better Treatment Plans

By having radiology staff on-site, doctors can better prescribe treatment plans specific to a patient’s needs. The aforementioned study in Norway also found that access to treatments improved with onsite mobile imaging in addition to patients receiving more specialized care.

Teleradiology Company that Fits Your Needs

Vesta has been providing stellar teleradiology services for over 15 years.

For these reasons and more, it is imperative that nursing homes and assisted living communities work with an experienced teleradiology company to improve the quality of care for residents. Vesta Teleradiology provides nighthawk services with expert and customizable interpretations, thereby improving health outcomes for your entire community. Quality patient care is our top priority as well as giving assisted living facility or nursing home operators flexible and cost-effective, expert service.