MSKIC accomplishes Obama's challenge by leveraging technology to health information sharing

Feb 27 2010

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.

“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.”

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.”