First Post
In what kind of setting do you practice? Please describe what it's like working in that kind of setting.
I currently work in a fast growing subspecialty teleradiology practice in Cleveland, Ohio. My days are extremely busy and rewarding, as we offer RT phone support to all of our clients around the country from Anchorage, Alaska to Key West, Florida. I have developed many strong relationships with my imaging center, physician office and hospital clients.
We develop protocols for MRI and CT and train new clients as we strive to have every site on the same page when scanning. Now with the advent of CCTA and its possibilities, things are going to get much more interesting.
How/why did you get into your particular field?
I have been in the radiology field for 25 years in almost every facet. My job prior to this was chief technologist an imaging center where Dr. Seidelmann was the medical director. He was doing teleradiology in it's infancy in the early '90s and as technology advanced so did his quest for doing teleradiology full time. He opened a subspecialty teleradiology practice in 2000. When I joined to manage RT and IT support, there were only two other employees in addition to Dr. Seidelmann. Now we have 90 employees and we continue to add more resources. It is good to see where you have been, where you are at and what the future might hold.
What are your greatest professional accomplishments thus far?
Being part of helping the company grow over the years and continuing to set the standard for future trends in teleradiology.
What are your professional goals for the future?
To finish what I have started both technically and professionally. To be the very best at what I do in order to improve patient care and our clients' success.
Please explain, I am trying to reference what you ask.
regards
The challenges of working with overseas practices go beyond borders. Qualifications must be met and standardized. Patient privacy with medical records is a huge concern (HIPAA). Insurance reimbursement is another issue as radiology practices in the United States are already facing cut backs and scrutiny. Laws are placed to protect the patient and patient information. How to work with these constraints in a world market will take a monumental effort.
Subspecialty will be a big part of telemedicine because it brings expertise into parts of the country (and world) that would usually not have access to this type of reporting. Rural areas will receive rare subspecialty expertise and patient care will improve greatly. Subspecialty is focused interpretations in areas such as Cardiac CT, Body CT, Neuro CT, PET, MRI musculoskeletal, MRI neuro and MRI body. Exporting US subspecialty expertise to other parts of the world, where the shortage of subspeciality expertise is more acute than in the US.
Being able to collaborate with doctors all over the world in a “virtual” office is and would be a boone to patient care.
Merge Healthcare has been a company which has experienced significant difficulties the past 12 months or so.
Do you feel that some of their latest product offerings (such as a 64 bit RIS/PACS solutions) differentiate them from a competitive perspective thereby enabling Merge to survive in this space?
Thanks much.
Thanks for responding, though this is not the forum to discuss this particular issue. I would be glad to speak to you offline regarding this if you would like.
Best Regards,
Matthew
Could you put some off-line contact info in here. I'd like to discuss a business idea with you regarding CTA and CCTA.
Thanks
Pete
Thanks and yes you can call me at the office 216.255.5700, just ask for me. If I am not at my desk, leave a voice mail and I will call you back.
Best,
Matt