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In the U.S., the common practice is that your doctor orders a radiology test (ultrasound, CT, MRI...), and you go to the place (often different location than your doctor's office) to have the test. After the test, the technician takes the images to his/her doctor/supervisor, who read the images and write a report interpreting the images. Then the technician comes back to tell you to wait for your doctor to tell you the result.
My first question: Why don't they send the images to your doctor, but only the written report? That means the doctor at the radiology lab is making the diagnosis, and your doctor simply take what ever they wrote, without seeing the actual images.
Also I would guess the technician herself must have enough knowledge to know more or less what you have upon scanning you (say whether a mass/lump is a cyst or tumor)? Not just the doctor she reports to? Do you feel like asking her what you have on the spot? I understand they are not supposed to tell you, but even if they don't tell you, their reply could give some hint if you ask your questions "wisely"?
e.g. You:"So is it a cyst or a tumor?" "Your doctor will tell you." "I'm scared if it's tumor!" "Don't worry! Not all tumors are bad!" (as opposed to: "Why? you may or may not have tumor!" or "Maybe it's not tumor, don't worry."
Any info from the technician would be a HIPAA violation. They could get fired and never work in the medical profession again. And the institution could be fined megabucks. Besides, it's not their responsibility. They administer the test, not interpret. If they can't suggest a cure/treatment they shouldn't offer a diagnosis.
The radiologist reading the images is a specialist. That's all they do and they're a lot better at it than a general practioner.
If the gp wants to see the image, it's a keyboard click away. Very few are actually printed any more-they're all in a computer.
In the U.S., the common practice is that your doctor orders a radiology test (ultrasound, CT, MRI...), and you go to the place (often different location than your doctor's office) to have the test. After the test, the technician takes the images to his/her doctor/supervisor, who read the images and write a report interpreting the images. Then the technician comes back to tell you to wait for your doctor to tell you the result.
My first question: Why don't they send the images to your doctor, but only the written report? That means the doctor at the radiology lab is making the diagnosis, and your doctor simply take what ever they wrote, without seeing the actual images.
Also I would guess the technician herself must have enough knowledge to know more or less what you have upon scanning you (say whether a mass/lump is a cyst or tumor)? Not just the doctor she reports to? Do you feel like asking her what you have on the spot? I understand they are not supposed to tell you, but even if they don't tell you, their reply could give some hint if you ask your questions "wisely"?
e.g. You:"So is it a cyst or a tumor?" "Your doctor will tell you." "I'm scared if it's tumor!" "Don't worry! Not all tumors are bad!" (as opposed to: "Why? you may or may not have tumor!" or "Maybe it's not tumor, don't worry."
Mr. CSD has had numerous xrays and MRI's over the last few months and we have left the office with a CD of those test every time so I'm not sure what your issue is.
If you do get the CD and look at the tests though what are you going to see? Are you trained to read xrays and MRI's?
There is also no sense in telling someone "don't worry" when it comes to medical tests and results, people are human, they worry and the waiting for the test results is the hardest part of the test.
In the U.S., the common practice is that your doctor orders a radiology test (ultrasound, CT, MRI...), and you go to the place (often different location than your doctor's office) to have the test. After the test, the technician takes the images to his/her doctor/supervisor, who read the images and write a report interpreting the images. Then the technician comes back to tell you to wait for your doctor to tell you the result.
My first question: Why don't they send the images to your doctor, but only the written report? That means the doctor at the radiology lab is making the diagnosis, and your doctor simply take what ever they wrote, without seeing the actual images.
Also I would guess the technician herself must have enough knowledge to know more or less what you have upon scanning you (say whether a mass/lump is a cyst or tumor)? Not just the doctor she reports to? Do you feel like asking her what you have on the spot? I understand they are not supposed to tell you, but even if they don't tell you, their reply could give some hint if you ask your questions "wisely"?
e.g. You:"So is it a cyst or a tumor?" "Your doctor will tell you." "I'm scared if it's tumor!" "Don't worry! Not all tumors are bad!" (as opposed to: "Why? you may or may not have tumor!" or "Maybe it's not tumor, don't worry."
The radiologist interprets the images because that's what they do...they have the training and expertise that the typical ordering practitioner does not have.
That being said almost medical imaging is digitized on a PACS system or similar and any ordering practitioner can easily access the images in addition to the report if they so desire.
Much of medicine is compartmentalized in this manner and it is to the patient's benefit.
Lets say something is found on an MRI and you undergo surgery, a biopsy...do you want the surgeon looking under the microscope at the tissue to make a diagnosis or a Pathologist who has been trained exclusively in that discipline and looks at tissue under the microscope all day every day to make a diagnosis.
Same principle...
As for asking the technician, a smart technician will continue to defer your questions no matter how "wisely" you ask them. It isn't their job and they aren't trained to interpret the images they obtain.
Everyone wants to be reassured but unfortunately not all results ARE reassuring and many times bad news must be given, that should come from your doc, not a CT,MRI,Mammo tech...
Any info from the technician would be a HIPAA violation. They could get fired and never work in the medical profession again. And the institution could be fined megabucks. Besides, it's not their responsibility. They administer the test, not interpret. If they can't suggest a cure/treatment they shouldn't offer a diagnosis.
The radiologist reading the images is a specialist. That's all they do and they're a lot better at it than a general practioner.
If the gp wants to see the image, it's a keyboard click away. Very few are actually printed any more-they're all in a computer.
I don't think you understand what HIPAA is about.
Actually...it's primarily about Health Insurance Portability (the HIP part) but also has additional requirements related to protected health information. In short, it protects a patient from having their PHI released to unauthorized parties without their knowledge and consent.
The patient is not an unauthorized party as it's their PHI. The patient would be the definition of an authorized party.
As far as HIPAA related fines...it's certainly possible but the release of PHI would have to proven to be significant and willful.
There would be an issue with the technician operating outside their scope of practice (as defined by the state that issues their license) and that can be serious for the patient and the technician. For the patient, the tech is not trained to diagnose. Knowing how to shoot a film is a long way from being a skilled diagnostician. If you trust a diagnosis from a tech...you're stupid. From the tech's perspective there are two issues: 1. they are practicing outside their scope and risk losing their license. 2. they're practicing medicine without a license which would, likely, be a felony.
You are definitely right about the radiologist skills. Most PCPs can read a plain x-ray pretty well. The problem is, they don't have the rad's skill in finding little things that, if found early enough, have a better of chance of responding well to early intervention.
Most radiologists have little, if any, contact or communication with the patient. Their customer, if you will, is the referring physician or institution.
Moreover, depending on the specialty of the referring physician, the interpretation of a Radiologist may not even be important. Orthoapedic surgeons, for example, care little about the Radiologist's report, because they are more proficient at reading the images themselves.
And, like PP's have said, there is no way you will get a Tech to opine on anything. Completely out of their scope of practice and a huge liability for all parties involved.
Lets say something is found on an MRI and you undergo surgery, a biopsy...do you want the surgeon looking under the microscope at the tissue to make a diagnosis or a Pathologist who has been trained exclusively in that discipline and looks at tissue under the microscope all day every day to make a diagnosis.
That's a good point...I had surgery a year ago and when I woke up, the surgeon told me that most of the tissue she saw in the scope and removed was cancerous, that she would let me know what the lab said about it but that in her opinion tissue that looked like that always turned out to be cancer. And when the lab report came back, there was no cancer at all and no hyperplasia in the tissue that was removed. So I spent a couple weeks being sure I had cancer when I didn't.
I think there are good reasons not to be told. First of all the tech doesn't have the same knowledge as the actual radiologist. second, it is better for the doctor to give the results with explanation and third sometimes it takes a second look to be sure of what is seen. I know it is horrible waiting for results, but it is better to hear it (good of bad) from a doctor. I will add, thought the tech can't tell us anything, sometimes they do let something slip, like you are going to be ok or something like that. We have seen this on a few occassions. It sometimes depends on comments you make.
Some physicians will want to see the images (most of the orthopedists I work with insist on seeing the images themselves), whereas many others will be glad to defer to the radiologist's opinion. My understanding is that reading imaging accurately comes with much practice, and radiologists look at many, many more images that most physicians ever will. So you'll get the best, most accurate results from an experienced radiologist. For this reason, many hospitals will even try to utilize radiologists that specialize in particular areas - for example, last year my hospital hired a radiologist who specializes in reading breast images, and now (unless she's on vacation) she reads all of the mammograms, etc. of breasts.
You don't want results from a tech. I don't care how experienced they are, they don't have 1/10 of the training a radiologist has. A radiologist is a physician who has a much greater understanding of what he or she is looking at, then a tech ever will. You want the most knowledgeable and experienced eyes looking at your image.
Having said that, experienced techs often do know what they are looking at, especially if it's something pretty common. For example, I was sent for a mammogram and then ultrasound after my ob/gyn found a lump in my breast. It turned out I had a very large tumor, and the most common type of breast cancer. When I walked in for the ultrasound, the tech mentioned that my doctor would call me later that day or the following morning to review the results. But after the ultrasound, she told me, "You know, you might want to call your doctor for results later on today." I thought that was odd that she would encourage me to call. A few hours later when my doctor did call, I knew why.
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