Help a teleradiologist out: Tell them what you're looking for
Before you send off a stack of images, do your consultant (and yourself) a favor by specifying the endgame.
Working with a teleradiologist demonstrates veterinary practitioners' commitment to patient care. And you can streamline the process from the beginning by not sending the consulting radiologist searching for a needle in a haystack, according to Fetch dvm360 conference speaker Eli Cohen, DVM, DACVR. He says you can tighten up the study by being selective and clear.
"Taking 20 radiographs of the entire musculoskeletal system without localizing the lesion inherently decreases the predictive value of that test," Dr. Cohen says. "It also makes life as a teleradiologist really difficult, because we don't know what you're looking for."
More radiography resources
Avoid this radiography communication mistake.
50 shades of gray: New data on digital radiography systems.
Radiographs of the lungs: Beyond the dogma.
"Target knowledge and search tasks" are critical to getting to accurate diagnoses, he continues. Providing orientation will point an expert down the right path and discourage potential false leads or dead ends.
Dr. Cohen adds that researchers have studied the literal way the eyes look for things.
"We know from eye-tracking studies that it will physically change the way your eye searches the image, depending on what you're looking for," he says.
Watch the video for more.
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