Radiology

Patient safety is the name of the game in credentialing. It is a process essential to ensuring quality care. However, the traditional primary source verification (PSV) approach to credentialing is antiquated in the age of telemedicine.

One in a series from people sharing their experiences as vRad teleradiologists. In this entry, Jonathon Lee, MD, explains what he discovered after stepping away from a partnership position to set sail toward a better work/life balance.

A growing number of health organizations are making computed tomographic perfusion (CTP) a critical part of their stroke intervention protocols.

As the CIO of Radiology at MEDNAX and vRad, I cannot help but reflect on the history of imaging informatics – and look ahead to the future innovations that emerging technology will bring.

Everything changes when you start a family.

OK – not everything – not all at once – but it certainly does bring change.

Let’s explore the story of a radiologist who faced – and embraced – that change with vRad.

Radiologists must design protocols that enable clinical partners to achieve stroke certification. Medicine is at the forefront of a revolution in stroke diagnosis and treatment, as my colleague Dr. Dym elucidated in 2018. 

The DAWN Trials, among others, support positive results for stroke patients who first receive treatment up to 24 hours after symptom onset. Current guidelines that require treatment within 6 hours or less limit clinicians’ treatment options for stroke patients when initial signs may have gone unobserved, or when the patient may have been delayed in getting to the ER. Emerging guidelines are opening a much larger window of opportunity through which we can properly diagnose and treat stroke victims.

Effective collaboration with your referring physicians can make the difference between getting paid or not getting paid. Cooperation between referring and ordering professionals becomes increasingly important with the approaching implementation date for the Protecting Access to Medicare Act, on January 1, 2020. 

Like you, I assumed from the start that a career in radiology would be a perfect fit. I thought I would always be happy with my choice of specialty and enjoy the anticipated rewards of being a physician. I didn’t consider how over time, the field would change, my personal life would change, or what I wanted would change.