The many possibilities offered by telemedicine for radiology
Jan Schillebeeckx, Radiologist at AZ Imelda Bonheiden

Radiologists are enthusiastic about the prospect of being able to exchange medical information transmurally with eHealth in order to enhance patient care. Telemedicine is an obvious choice for them.

Healthcare today is more complex than ever. This is endorsed by Dr. Jan Schillebeeckx, Radiologist in AZ Imelda and member of the European Society of Radiology eHealth committee: “The right patient information must be available at the right moment. This applies no less to radiology, a discipline that is almost completely digitised. I would even dare to say that it is unjustified to continue using analogue imaging today; not only because digital images can be distributed must more easily, but especially because they contain so much extra information.”

Radiological information can be shared with colleagues inside the hospital thanks to communication systems like RIS and PACS. “It goes without saying that we radiologists are enthusiastic about the prospect of also exchanging medical information transmurally with eHealth to enhance patient care. Telemedicine is an obvious choice for us: we are completely united behind eHealth.”

Dr. Schillebeeckx is convinced that healthy interaction must exist between clinicians and ICT staff in hospitals in order to promote innovations. “When a radiologist immerses himself in ICT his clinical knowledge begins to suffer, and vice versa. Everyone must be able to stay in his own specialisation, with his own competencies. eHealth fulfils this requirement perfectly: it is a user-friendly system, which enables us to exchange medical data easily without having to think of technical aspects.”