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What is telecardiology?

Telecardiology is the transfer of cardiology information and images using telecommunication technology.

Advanced Cardiac Diagnostics focuses on remote interpretation of echocardiograms and EKG’s via a secure high-speed Internet connection.

Why use Advanced Cardiac Diagnostics for your interpretations?

In the field of radiology there are estimated to be over 6,000 institutions using teleradiology services to aid in interpreting their diagnostic studies.  In comparison, there are very few institutions using telecardiology .  Numerous factors are responsible for the slow adoption, including Internet speeds and the larger size of the studies.  With improved Internet speeds and widespread use of digital cardiac imaging, telecardiology is now a viable option

A 2009 report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reported that “A critical shortage of cardiologists exists today, and will only grow more severe in the future.”

As the population ages, more patients are undergoing cardiac testing including echocardiograms and EKG’s.  A limited pool of Cardiologists is being asked to keep pace interpreting the ever-growing number of studies.

Telecardiology allows a practice or institution to outsource all, or a portion of, the diagnostic studies allowing their Cardiologist more time to see patients.

For a small hospitals/clinics with a qualified cardiovascular technician on staff, but no cardiologist, being able to perform the testing in house is a convenience to the patients and can recapture lost revenue. Patients referred to outside providers for diagnostic testing are occasionally lost to follow-up.   Doing testing at your practice/facility allows for improved follow-up.

What about state licensure?

Interpreters are licensed in the state the study originates from.

What if I only require your services occasionally?

Advanced Cardiac Diagnostics is willing to take on small contracts as long as there is sufficient work to justify state licensing and connection setup fees.  If the contract is too small to justify these costs, we may still be wiling to accept the contract depending on study type and PACs system.

What does it cost to use your services?

Using our services is cost neutral to your facility/practice.

  • For most contracts, we charge no additional fees for using our services.
  • There may be fees charged by your PACs vendor to allow outside connections to your server/PACs.
What information will the reports contain?

Report content will comply with guidelines established by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) formally call the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL).  IAC guidelines parallel the recommendations of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE)

Report guidelines are found starting on page 22 of the 2010 IAC Echocardiography Guidelines

ASE Recommendations for echocardiogram report content.

Do you provide long-term image storage?

No.  The facilities performing the study are responsible for long term image storage.  Advanced Cardiac Diagnostics erases data on its server once a report is finalized.

Where are the interpretations performed?

All interpretations are performed in the United States using experienced board certified Cardiologists.

How is billing performed?

Your facility/practice bills the insurance company for the study’s global fee. Advanced Cardiac Diagnostics collects a predetermined fee per study.

What if I only have EKGs to interpret?

EKGs can be difficult due to technology constraints.  We only take on EKG contracts when EKGs are on a dedicated EKG PACs system such as Epiphany, GE muse, Philips EKGvue, ETC

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