July 27, 2011 – A new echocardiography remote reading program was introduced to provide expert exam interpretation in all 50 states. The new program, created by USARAD.com, a Joint Commission accredited provider of imaging services, is intended to address the longstanding need for fast, reliable interpretation of echocardiograms for mobile ultrasound companies and other imaging facilities across the nation.
“Echocardiography is a complex imaging technique that relies on the experience and training of the physician to a greater extent than do other ultrasound exams,” said Michael Yuz, M.D., MBA, founder and CEO of USARAD.com. “Most remote reading companies are not able to provide echocardiology expertise in addition to other professional radiological services such as CT, MRI and general/vascular ultrasound. We are committed to working with only carefully selected subspecialists to offer the highest quality reads.”
Yuz points out that the outsourcing echocardiography exam reading is made particularly complicated by the nature of the data-intensive files involved. These files may contain as much as 100 times more information than routine ultrasounds, do not follow DICOM standards and are not optimized for viewing on a standard radiology PACS. Therefore, they demand specialized, often costly digital communications technologies.
“USARAD.com’s new turnkey solution addresses all of the issues that complicate outsourcing echocardiography exams. In particular, our team includes both board-certified cardiologists and radiologists, and we are able to offer the same fast and reliable interpretation service for echocardiograms as for other sonographic exams and all radiology modalities – conveniently under one roof,” Yuz said.
USARAD.com relies on a unique human and IT infrastructure to deliver all its services efficiently, cost-effectively and on a national scale. Ensuring timely, reliable data communication, the USARAD.com National Echocardiography Remote Reading Program utilizes the latest proprietary cloud-based image management software, which enables anywhere, anytime access to medical images, powerful automated tools for expert exam interpretation and efficient communications of test results to clients. Clients also enjoy long-term image storage on the cloud, as part of its services.
Commenting on the new program, F. Dmitry Gorelik, M.D., one of USARAD.com’s interpreting cardiologists who is an echocardiography expert and triple-board-certified in cardiology, nuclear cardiology and internal medicine, said, “Echo is the most utilized, non-invasive cardiovascular imaging modality, and arguably the safest and most cost-effective. Cardiac structure and blood flow information provided by echocardiographic testing is useful in the detection and management of many types of heart disease. This noninvasive test has become one of the standard diagnostic tools in cardiology with over 10 million echocardiograms performed annually in the United States.“
“USARAD.com’s affordable, high-quality services enable hospitals, imaging centers and mobile companies across the country to expand their expertise with expert cardiologists to cover echocardiogram interpretation, along with USARAD.com’s other advanced exams,“ Gorelik added.
For more information: www.usarad.com