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SOLO RADIOLOGIST EMPOWERMENT; IMAGE SERVERS AND HOME BASED TELERADIOLOGY
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]To: Solo Radiologists and Rural Circuit Riders[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Re: Home based Telemedicine/Teleradiology[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Dear Solo Radiologists,[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]I am writing this letter today to address some of the concerns of the solo Radiologist, rural radiologist or circuit rider .[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”] If you have a desire to successfully move your Radiology consultation practice to your home, and you wish to integrate your skills and consultative/communicative services into a rather vivacious home teleradiolgy practice ,..then my message applies to you. This letter does not pertain to the large Group Radiology practices, Pacs Vendors, or night time emergency First Read service providers or practitioners. I will not entertain any questions from those subgroups.[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]I have spent the last nine years as a successful teleradiologist from my home office. Over the last 26 years of my Diagnostic /Intervential radiological practice,.., I maintained postions in teaching institutions, rural circuit routes, urban hospitals, urban/suburban imaging centers, governmental hospital teaching positions, inpatient and outpatient facilities, and from time to time I even had ownership interests in such facilities. I practiced in a group for three years, and then it dawned on me that I was probably one of the most productive radiologists in my urban community, ..and that surely I could outperform my peers with my reads.[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]However, out of necessity (and because of a generally inquisitive mind), I became computer literate on pc computers (and microsoft windows operating systems). I am not MACINTOSH literate. I have had to endure the learning curves in installing and using pc software and related databases including Microsoft Access and MS Sql databases ; I have had to develop and hone my computer management skills that were necessary to run my practice on a daily basis.As a result, I now manage my own three PACS systems , firewalls, and perform IT administrative duties on both local and remote systems from my home based telemedicine office. Please Note: There are many pitfalls in performing these duties by your self. Complex and very simple solutions exist with or without requiring your daily input.[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]I believe I have identified the most powerful, expedient , and perhaps the most economical solutions for the solo radiologist to deploy if he/she wishes to practice from his/her home. And solutions that will empower him to be strong , confident, independent ,and to take control of his /her life and radiological practice. It dawned on my one day, that most of my income came from reading high tech studies…and not xrays or doing interventional procedures. It also became more apparenat as I matured and aged…that wearing a 50 lb double lead lined jacket for 20 years can affect your spine; And, radiation is not good for you,..even though we signed up for the better part of the reward/risk ratio as it pertained to a radiology practice. [/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Before I overwhelm you with information, I want you to know that there is a currently available simple solution, which just requires your ability to connect to the internet to get your patient studies. The rest is managed for you in a very very economical way by a professional programmer and experienced medical equipment software vendor. This route can indeed mitigate the learning curve and headaches.And I do mean very very economical method.[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]If you have a desire to be a leader and not a follower,then I think I can help you to empower yourself to be a more productive radiologist. I believe I can get direct you on how you can setup yourself with a rock solid software image server and,..you can literally be receiving images within minutes (presuming your home based computer workstation is ready for such activities). This can be achieved by the deployment of an image server on the internet OC3 backbone. The current advertisements and offerings from internet hosting companies guarantee a rather remarkeable 100 percent uptime; This assures you of ease of access and 24/7 accessibility to your images from anywhere in the world. You may wish to manage your own virtual server or have a programmer/vendor do that for you.[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Please Note: [u]I have no financial stake in any of the products I am able to tell you about. I am not selling anything here[/u].I do not recieve any marketing fees or any other compensation except for the fact that I helped other soloists achieve their sometimes difficult goals. I am merely trying to relay information to you that I have had to distill for myself after years of experience and internet investigations.[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Once again..I must reiterate that my message is specifically targeted to the solo radiologists , babyboomers semi retiring, and new radiologists radiologists just starting out in their respective private/solo practices) ; Those persons who are not members of multiman radiological group practices nor do they have membership in after hours / stat (night time) primary read groups. I specifically wish to target baby boomer radiologists, rural circuit riding radiologists, or those radiologists that are solo because they have chosen to be solo .[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]You can achieve the following if you follow my lead:[/font][/b][/size][size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Read from your home and be near your loved ones, friends and pets.[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Enjoy being mobile with your laptop, breakout box, and internet connectivity from your hotel room, motorhome, or wireless 3G/4G connection.[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Read for multiple clinics in multiple states (for which you currently or wish to have medical licenses)[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Reduce your risk by reading only those studies that you prefer and have lower instances of malpractice (ie. MRI, CTand not chest xrays or mammo)[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Read from anywhere in the world in realtime by accessing your internet virtual cloud server on the flyfrom whatever location you see fit; ie. boat, motorhome, hotel/motel, home, vacation spot, or coffee shop.[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Deliver your encrypted reports by email, ftp delivery, or internet fax.[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Scan your documents and demographic billing information and send them by fax or email to third party billing services.[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Empower yourself to not be a slave to the film processor; Please dont continue to sit at a freestanding imaging center all day long just waiting for 5-10 studies to drop into the laser processor bin. You can easily triple or quadruple your practice each day by reading remotely.[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Enjoy interactions and relationships with new colleagues from facilities and multispecialty practices in your state, country or worldwide.[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Enjoy the scheduling of your daily calendar of events so as to allow you the distinct hours that you wish to work, enjoying an adequate lunch break, and ability to finish early each day (allowing time to yourself and your hobbies/interests).[/font][/b][/size]
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[u][size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]* Please note: I do not have the time to teach you about computing . The basic requirements to get started:[/font][/b][/size][/u]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”] I . You can connect to the internet with your current pc and download images to read; You have no other administrative skills .[/font][/b][/size]
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[b][font=”times new roman”][size=3]II. You conisder yourself more computer literate than your average colleague and you have:[/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=”times new roman”][size=3][/size][/font][/b][size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Basic PC or MAC computing skills[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Ability to order or setup your own desktop workstation; [/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Ability to change out your present PC video card (housed within your desktop computer) to a multimonitor video card of the pci, pci express, or AGP types. Alternatively, addition of an external cable(s) and video box to give you 2-4 monitor capability with megapixel capability.[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Installation of 2-4 gigabytes of onboard memory .[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Ability to install software such as SSL secure ftp client software (freeware or commercial types) on to your reading workstation. [/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Ability to specify and purchase a laptop with 2-megapixel or greater resolution (1920 x 1200).[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Purchase a yearly/perpetual license(s) for professional quality reading software. [/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Ability to deploy and use your own choice of reading software (ie. Osirix on Mac computer; Efilm for Windows PC, others, etc): This sometimes is necessary to develop a daily worklist and query the dicom server and retrieve images.There are alternatives to query and retrieve that are not commonly discussed.[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Ability to set permission levels and ports on your windows firewall for your desktop , and similar abilities when administering a remote server on the internet.[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]High speed internet connection (ie. cable modem, ISDN, fiberoptics DSL , T1 line, Satellite feed, wireless 3G/4G card, cellphone).[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Ability to log in to remote internet oc faciltiy computer by ftp client, remote desktop commands, etc.[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]If you are well advanced in computing /management skills,..then you may wish to consider deploying a second backup or mirrored PACS system. This PACS can be remotely administered by yourself and thus,..it would be available for mirroring studies from your other virtual server; This means you have 2 image servers in the event that one vendor lost power or image server hardrive has crashed. This is a second testbed pacs that people can test sending images to you before coming permanently online to your primary pacs. .[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Ability to setup your own ftp site on your internet backbone virtual server (or deploy ftp software that can do it for you). This would probably apply to the intermediate to advanced level pc users. Ftp sites may serve in emergencies as an additonal or alternative site for hospitals and imaging centers to upload images to you in the event the pacs goes down. This can be done thru SSL secure tecniques.[/font][/b][/size]
[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Abiltiy to remotely delete old studies from your current desktop and /or your remote internet serverso as to avoid filling up your hardrive with old studies; Please note, filling up your hardrive should be prevented. If not, it is possible the pacs server will fail to recieve and your server may freeze requiring safe mode boot up and deletion of old files prior to returning to a baseline working state (ie in a normal receptive manner).[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]If you hate computers, or are not literate,..and I.T. Police/personnel have literally taken care of you “all your productive life”then there does exist a simple solution to achieve these same goals in rapid fashion. It merely requires a image server with private permissions allowing you to remotely access your images and download them to your home computer.[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]However, you will need to own a computer workstation capable of utilizing 1-2 monitors with 1920 x 1200 line resolution. You would wish to have 2-4 gigs of on board memory since visualization software is memory intensive instead of cpu intensive. YOU MUST HAVE high speed internet connectivity (DSL, Cable, Satellite, 3G/4G wireless,etc.)[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”] You will probably wish to actually deploy between 2-6 monitors (perhaps on a commercially stand ,.. or perhaps a custom made VESA monitor stand). Each monitor should be capable of at least 2 (two) megapixels resolution or greater,..in order to achieve rapid workflow . hanging protocols, and to read CT/MRI/US/NucMed; Some prefer 3(three) megapixel monitors for Chest xrays) .[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Please note, the world of electronics improves each day. A recent visit to my Video Store MegaVendor and searches of the internet revealed that we now have LCD, LED, DLP, Plasma type monitors and so called TVs. It is interesting to note that right now you can buy a big screen Monitor/TV that has 5 megapixels. Additionally, the word on the “net” is that six megapixels are scheduled to arrive this summer (ie. Samsung, and others).[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]You must also please understand that my offer of impowerment, is by private invitation only.[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]You will be required to tell me about your present practice , your short term and long term goals, and those specific person(s) that I would be able to call and confirm you are solo practioner or a circuit rider (ie. someone to confirm your statements to me in this regard,..such as , your rural hospital administrator, your billing manager, etc); It needs to be someone who knows your practice intimately, and who can confirm your solo status ( I [u]do not[/u] want to know your client names, imaging centers names, customers , reading sites etc.; I am not a poacher but rather an informational empowerer). I wish to confirm that you meet the requirements for my assistance. [/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Please understand,it will be up to you to market yourself. I do not have clients for you. These may take months to years to develop in an ethical and moral manner. No poaching or tort interference is allowed or tolerated.[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]The big picture here is freedom , better family relations, and the possibility of developing associations with other teleradiologists that can assist you when you are ill, have a wedding to attend, a funeral to attend, if you wish to go on leave of absence / sebatical , or if you desire to just take a normal vacation not tied to the usual and customary USA national holiday calendar dates (ie weekends).[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]I am writing this letter because I have been there and done that, and I understand your plight; I know your feelings on these matters, and the difficulties that arise when trying to be a responsible , professional, and productive solo radiologist .[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]If you have a strong desire to improve your quality of life, your career, and your day to day practice,.. then please email me with [u]your name and phone number [/u], and a good time to contact you in the evening. [/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”] I shall return communication back to you in one way or another. I have set up a private email for responses to this open letter. I will try to respond to each of you as I have time at the end of the day. If an after hours or evening contact is ok..please say so. I do not wish to interfere with your family life.[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Sincerely, [/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Send email to : [/font][/b][/size]
[[email protected]][u][font=”times new roman”][color=#0000ff][size=3][b][email protected][/b][/size][/color][/font][/u][/email]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Thanks for listening,[/font][/b][/size]
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[size=3][b][font=”times new roman”]Ric, MD (Board Certified Radiologist)[/font][/b][/size]
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[font=”times new roman”]Note: Osirix, Microsoft, Efilm, Samsungare copywrighted and trademark solutions provided from f their respective parent companies.[/font][/i] -
5 Replies
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Still giving advice?
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This reads like it was written in a call center in New Dehli. All you need is 4GBs to freedom.
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Sounds like it was written in 2008
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I’ve seen this advert before.
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