A recent radiology article makes the point that a commonplace perception of a doctor and radiologist sharing adjacent offices and together examining X-rays is outdated and reminiscent of "the old days."

That it is no longer consistently true and has given way to a described "perilous game of telephone" between medical professionals who might now be separated by continents has increased the odds of X-ray negligence and adverse results for patients.

That potential can be easily understood by considering the following. In these days of constantly evolving technology, it is no longer uncommon for purposes of convenience and economics for a doctor in one location to order a CT scan or X-ray and have it sent to another location to be interpreted. The process is called teleradiology, pursuant to which an X-ray is sent digitally by computer to a radiologist who might actually reside in another state or even a different country, many time zones away.

The implications of that can work both ways. When things work optimally, a request can be made by a remote or overworked clinic late on an evening, with the return written report back the next morning.

When things don't work well, however, disaster can ensue. Things get lost in the process. Doctors and radiologists are personally communicating and discussing patient cases less often, deferring instead to the new technology.

What has aptly been termed "the baton pass of films in cyberspace" can result in one doctor thinking that another has seen and taken care of a problem, and vice versa. In the absence of direct conversation, a radiologist might assume that a doctor simply understands the significance of something noted in an X-ray report, when that might not be the case.

Outsourced analysis, for both better and worse, is here to stay. Its advent requires close focus on a continuous dialogue among the parties who are using it.

Source: MSNBC, "Is a doctor reading your X-rays? Maybe not." Oct. 26, 2011