How teleradiology can advance innovative new treatments while helping solve the staffing crisis
The healthcare industry is facing a severe shortage of skilled nuclear radiologists, threatening timely cancer treatment and care. Only with 53% of training programs have full enrollment, requiring innovative solutions to solve the human resources crisis.
Teleradiology can help because it allows nuclear radiologists to interpret scans remotely, increasing the reliability of the scans, said Dr. Mark Crockett, chief medical officer at TeleDaaS, a dosimetry services provider. flexibility in their work schedules and expanded access to specialized expertise. very similar to teleradiology.
Crockett believes this technology-driven approach will alleviate current staffing challenges and accelerate progress in the field of radiopharmaceuticals – ultimately leading to better patient care.
We interviewed Crockett to discuss the staffing crisis for nuclear radiologists, how teleradiology can help fight the crisis, how teleradiology can spur advances in radiopharmaceuticals and the expected increase in the medical isotope market due to growth in targeted cancer treatment and imaging.
Ask. Let’s talk about the staffing crisis for nuclear radiologists. What do things look like in hospitals and health systems? What are the consequences of the crisis?
ONE. One reason for the staffing crisis is that demand is growing rapidly with newly available treatments and the supply of doctors is not keeping up. Nuclear medicine is a field that requires highly specialized and difficult training. Many doctors choose other related specialties such as diagnostic imaging; They may cover some nuclear medicines but also provide a wide range of services.
The small number of trained physicians tends to be concentrated in academic centers, and rural health systems have difficulty finding qualified nuclear medicine physicians to meet all their needs. them, which leads to disparities in access to care.
In some geographic areas, patients have difficulty accessing nuclear medicine specialists, which complicates their ability to receive specialized treatments and diagnostic imaging. This may mean patients have to travel long distances or receive care without optimal dosing and monitoring.
This staffing shortage is a serious problem that limits access to nuclear medicine services that patients need, especially for new targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies.
Q. How exactly can teleradiology help solve the staffing crisis? Clearly, it can expand access to skilled professionals many miles away. But what can technology do to strengthen the sector?
ONE. Teleradiology allows nuclear medicine specialists to read scans more efficiently and provide guidance remotely, allowing them to serve a wider geographic area beyond a single hospital.
Teleradiology allows smaller hospitals without dedicated nuclear medicine staff to access this specialized expertise. Radiologists can provide remote monitoring and dosing guidance. Additionally, teleradiology allows nuclear medicine physicians to work more efficiently – they can evaluate patients far away when time permits, providing a consistent level of care across a large area .
Teleradiology can be done nuclear medicine physicians are more productive and expand their reach, which is important given the shortage of these specialized professionals.
By allowing remote review of scans and dosimetry, teleradiology helps ensure patients receive the ideal supervision and guidance from nuclear medicine experts, even at hospitals that lack On-site nuclear medicine physician. This strengthens the field of nuclear radiology by expanding access to quality care.
Ask. You believe that teleradiology can drive advances in radiopharmaceuticals. Please describe radiopharmaceuticals and explain the type of advances you see happening with teleradiology.
ONE. Radiopharmaceuticals deliver radiation directly to cancer cells by binding to specific proteins on their surface, allowing for targeted treatment. Many of these effective treatments are extremely new, and excitement about their impact is growing as new studies are published.
The use of dosimetry with these agents is controversial. Many of them have a standard dosage that they are approved for and officially that is how they are dosed. But there is important research showing that individual patients can safely get more doses, and some patients have had risks with the standard dose.
This has led scientific organizations to recommend that all patients be dosed as part of their care. For these new agents to be used in that way, a new approach will be needed to expand the number of nuclear medicine physicians if we are to treat patients across the United States with personalized care. humanity, let alone the rest of the world.
Teleradiology can also drive advances in radiopharmaceuticals by generating new levels of data describing patient dosing and outcomes. By allowing nuclear medicine specialists to remotely review scans and facilitate dosimetry, more data will be generated and we can better know which patients benefit benefit from certain quantitative methods. This expanded data is essential to improve health outcomes, ensuring more patients benefit from treatment.
Ask. You also pointed to the expected increase in the medical isotope market, driven by growth in diagnostic imaging and targeted cancer treatments. You say there’s a significant opportunity for teleradiology to address the workforce gaps here. Please explain.
ONE. The expected multibillion-dollar market increase for medical isotopes is driven by growth in targeted radiopharmaceutical cancer treatments and new indications. Currently, this approach is limited to a few cancers and agents, but many more are being studied and are certain to be approved.
This will certainly create significant workforce challenges that teleradiology can help address. Currently, there are not enough nuclear medicine physicians to provide the level of service needed to administer these new therapies nationwide. Teleradiology allows existing specialists to expand their reach, thereby providing care to more patients.
Many smaller hospitals may lack nuclear medicine expertise; Teleradiology allows them to treat with new agents that are already here, let alone those on the horizon.
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