Teleradiologie – Update 2014

Abstract

Due to economic considerations and thanks to technological advances there is a growing interest in the integration of teleradiological applications into the regular radiological workflow. The legal and technical hurdles which are still to be overcome are being discussed in politics as well as by national and international radiological societies. The European Commission as well as the German Federal Ministry of Health placed a focus on telemedicine with their recent eHealth initiatives. The European Society of Radiology (ESR) recently published a white paper on teleradiology. In Germany §3 section 4 of the Röntgenverordnung (RöV, X-ray regulations) and DIN 6868-159 set a framework in which teleradiology can also be used for primary reads. These possibilities are already being used by various networks and some commercial providers across Germany. With regards to cross-border teleradiology, which currently stands in contrast to the RöV, many issues remain unsolved.

Obstacles and Solutions Driving the Development of a National Teleradiology Network

“…Nevertheless, officials were inexperienced in the field of teleradiology in the beginning and thus susceptible to questionable demands. Legal aspects and data protection requirements busied teleradiology communities worldwide and promoted the publication of various articles [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. The senior authors described that close collaboration with officials and involvement in the development of regulations from the beginning of teleradiology networking in Berlin significantly eased cooperation in the years to come.…”

Evaluation of diagnostic accuracy of intracranial aneurysm detection using medical-grade versus commercial consumer-grade displays and different image reconstructions against the background of process optimization for telemedicine

“…Therefore, radiologic applications play a key role in implementing economic strategies in daily interdisciplinary workflow. One such measure is to set up a nationwide teleradiology network (1). With such a network, only a few specialists are needed to efficiently provide high-level diagnostic services to several locations at the same time and to thus increase the standard of care especially in rural regions (2).…”

The compliance with and knowledge about radiation protection in operating room personnel: a cross-sectional study with a questionnaire

“…These principles offer guidance on radiation protection and are publically conveyed through the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) in Europe and the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) in the United States [6,9]. Courses about radiation protection are even mandatory for physicians in some parts of the world [10]. In general, naturally occurring radiation exposure ranges around 3 milli (m) Sievert (Sv) per year and mainly includes cosmic, terrestrial, and radon exposure [1].…”