Gone are the days when having an ultrasound in your practice meant spending days in off-site education locations or buying multiple books that may or may not have an image of what you need to reference. As telemedicine and support make strides in veterinary medicine, ultrasound systems are leading the way in connecting you to the outside world.
1. Scanning assistance and training
In the not-so-distant past, buying an ultrasound system meant many days of off-site training conducted by the support team from the company you purchased it from. It also meant costs in the form of traveling to class destinations, purchasing materials to train yourself to use the ultrasound proficiently, or working with experts to learn more specialized applications.
Connected ultrasound systems can now provide training directly through the system, with the capability to see you and speak with you in real time, wherever you’re located. This allows you to do more frequent training sessions with smaller groups in your clinic.
Hired a new staff member? If you have a connected ultrasound, you could have the company you purchased it from train that person, rather than you conducting it from memory. Want to enhance your skills at scanning? A few systems now offer the ability to be trained directly through the system. Imagine being in the clinic and having a trained sonographer teach you how to scan! As soon as you are done with the training, you can get right back to seeing patients — no more wasted time!
2. Sharing great images with ease
Sharing images from any imaging device typically requires the involvement of film or paper. With connectivity being introduced into ultrasound, images can now be shared electronically with very little technical know-how needed.
In fact, the newest systems on the market feature QR codes. (You know, those neat little boxes made of tiny black and white squares. The ones are parents ask us what they’re supposed to do with do!) You simply put your phone into camera mode and hold it up the to the QR code, and a link will automatically pop up. In the case of ultrasound, your client can take their phone image of the QR code, and immediately access all the ultrasound images and videos you took. No emails, no mistyped links, no fuss!
3. Sending cases out to be read
Even with the training to capture great images and the ability to share those images easily with your customers, you still may have the need to have a radiologist, cardiologist, or internist read the images and report back to you. Connectivity allows this to happen, not only through your computer, but also directly through the ultrasound. Connected ultrasound allows you to choose who you would like to send images to, and from there you can either send them directly from the system or from the ultrasound’s connected website. There is no longer any need to be with the system or on the provider’s webpage to import images.
As you can see, it’s an exciting time to think about exploring a connected ultrasound. Connectivity can not only increase your effective use of the ultrasound itself, but also improve the overall care you provide to every animal that walks through your door!
With over 30 years in the veterinary ultrasound field, Randy Laufersky, President of Core Imaging, has sold ultrasound systems for every type of application and patient, around the globe. Randy and the team at Core Imaging are helping lead the way for the veterinary imaging industry, by providing the best products, education, and connectivity for veterinarians, worldwide.
You can visit us online HERE, to learn more about Patterson Veterinary's Ultrasound offerings, including details about training and service.