Vaultara Blog

The American College of Radiology (ACR) is a non-profit, professional society with over 30,000 members, consisting of radiation oncologists, radiologists, and clinical medical physicists. Their primary purposes are: advancing the science of radiology, improving radiologic services to patients, studying socioeconomic aspects with regards to radiology, and encouraging continuous study in radiology and medical physics, as well as associated fields.

They periodically define new practice parameters and procedures in order to advance the field of radiology and improve the quality of service to patients. The following is a summary of the most recent document regarding the proper communication of diagnostic imaging findings. Source: ACR Practice Parameter for Communication of Diagnostic Imaging Findings Res. 11 – 2014.

Unnecessary medical imaging is a very real problem in the US, leading to longer wait times for diagnoses, increased healthcare expense, and potentially strained doctor-patient relationships. In addition to the delays, costs, and stress that redundant imaging can cause for patients, there are some modalities, such as CT scans, where cumulative radiation exposure is a concern.

Dr. Erik Korzen of Dynamic Physical Health specializes in physical medicine and pain management through conservative care. He believes there are multiple causes for the over-use of medical imaging. One is simply the ease of access to imaging centers and the fact that the technology is widely available. A physician simply writes an order, then the imaging center schedules an appointment. Once the procedure is performed, the images are viewed by a radiologist and returned to the ordering physician, usually all within 24-48 hrs.

As a patient, few things are more frustrating than getting a CD of your medical images and not being able to read them when you get home. Even worse is having this happen when you’re trying to share them with another provider.

Debra Moulton ran into this problem back in 2013 when she had an MRI performed on her neck. She’d been suffering from persistent, severe pain and after numerous treatments like steroid injections and physical therapy, her doctor finally agreed to do an MRI. She was scheduled to see a neurosurgeon for a consultation and was told to bring a copy of the test on a disc. At home, she attempted to look over the results on the CD that her doctor provided. First, she tried to load them on her desktop computer, but had no luck. Next, she tried on her laptop computer, and still nothing. After several tries, she grew frustrated. As it turned out, the files on the CD were corrupt. She called her doctor’s office to see what they could do and learned she would have to get a new copy. Fortunately, the imaging center had one on file and quickly provided a free replacement since it wasn’t her fault that the disc was corrupted. Unfortunately, Debra encountered this problem again when she required a few more tests. Just as before, the doctor put the results on CDs. “It never fails,” she said. “Every time I tried to access the images from home or at another doctor’s office, I would have the same issues.”