Obama Promise of Health Care Cost Savings Through Efficiency Achieved by Innovative Teleradiology Company
SAN ANTONIO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Musculoskeletal Imaging Consultants (MSKIC) announces release of “Inside Business with Fred Thompson” documentary. MSKIC accomplishes Obama challenge of “more for less” by leveraging technology and bypassing obstructions to health information sharing.
President Obama challenged the medical industry to improve quality and decrease Medicare health expenditures by improving health information sharing and thereby eliminating unnecessarily repeated studies. Last month’s dramatic reduction in Medicare rate cuts to facilities and radiologists have left them struggling to maintain solvency without the capital to invest in technologic retooling. Many radiology centers are closing centers and laying off medical personnel to remain solvent. Imaging studies previously read by US radiologists are being outsourced to India to cut costs. Some centers are eliminating service to Medicare patients.
Douglas K. Smith, owner of MSKIC, has developed a simple, cost effective strategy to reduce costs and improve quality by leveraging existing technology based on his experience with teleradiology in the Air Force during Desert Storm. Unlike the military, each civilian facility has their own proprietary health information systems and have technologic incompatability with other systems. Medical facilities also have concerns about loss of proprietary information and HIPAA security concerns that limit enthusiasm for interfaculty information.
As a result, facilities print and hand carry x-rays or compact discs between facilities which is slow and expensive. MSKIC bypasses these barriers by receiving digital images from multiple participating radiology networks. All of the patient’s studies are collated into a single web-accessible listing for each patient using Practice Builder software (eRAD Inc.) Each patient’s studies from all facilities are immediately available to all the patient’s physicians using a HIPAA compliant web-based interface.
Douglas Smith, MD (MSKIC owner) explains, “Within minutes of completion of the exam, the study is compared to previous studies from other facilities and a finalized report is generated using voice recognition technology. Interactive web-conferencing sessions allows us to answer questions from the patient‘s doctor, frequently while he is sitting with the patient in the exam room.”
Dr. Jeremy Wiersig, Concord Imaging, Owner and radiologist: “An unexpected finding appeared on a recent MRI. While the patient was still on the MRI scanner, Dr. Smith and I reviewed the images together, including the old study, and obtained needed additional images. The patient returned to her doctor within a few minutes with a report in hand and avoided the inconvenience and time delay of a return visit for the additional images.”
Dr. David Schmidt, San Antonio Spurs team physician declares, “Teleradiology has revolutionized how we practice sports medicine. We can examine a patient, obtain an MRI and have a signed report all within an hour.”
Dr. Guy Fogel recounts, “I had a question of anatomy while I was in a spine surgical procedure. I was able to answer the question during a web-conferencing from the operating room and avoided cancelling the procedure.”
MSKIC is a national subspecialty musculoskeletal teleradiology service and is licensed to practice in 35 states. MSKIC specializes in the interpretation of spine and orthopedic MRI examinations for orthopedic and spine surgeons with in-office MRI scanners and radiology groups needing expert level readings and highest quality customer service. “Inside Business with Fred Thompson” reveals the unique MSKIC approach to leveraging technology to meet the Obama goals of improved care at lower costs making MSKIC the “premier orthopedic teleradiology company in the country.”
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Josh, thanks for the post – excellent article – but we’ll have to wait and see if cost savings really come out of this. The more the government puts there hands into healthcare, the more problems seem to occur. As a HIPAA consultant to small practices, costs are still rising, even with meaningful use, HITECH, and also the other legislative edicts. Why, I think alot has to do with litigious world we live in and lawyers going after medical practices for breaches. The key, therefore, is is security awareness training so employees understand how to protect PHI and there’s really no excuse for this. There are actually hundreds of free and cost-effective solutions online, but time and time again, I see Covered Entities and Business Associates failing to implement basic training. As a HIPAA security specialist, it’s somewhat upsetting to see this because something that’s so vital to an organization and that is so easy and cost-effective to obtain is many times never done. C’mon folks, train your employees about ensuring the safety and security of PHI, it’s not that difficult. Think about it, healthcare companies spend massive amounts of money on new hardware and software products for security, but the true front line for defense for protecting PHI is well-trained and educated employees, something that’s so easy to do!