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Teleradiology consultants provided much needed relief when they started in the 1980s, allowing in-house radiologists to have regular shifts by covering for them at night and on weekends. However, in the past few decades, there has been growing concern that teleradiologists are directly competing with radiologists for business. Can the two coexist? Is the industry evolving to fit both, or will the rivalry only escalate?

One of the biggest concerns that the public has with diagnostic radiology is the radiation that an often already sick body is subjected to. But researchers at Johns Hopkins believe they have developed a new way to scan children, and soon adults, without this danger.

Doctors often wish they could do a quick “Google” to figure out what ails their patient--and John Hopkins Pediatrics is hoping to get them one step closer. The hospital is compiling a database of various pediatric neuroradiology images, which will allow medical professionals to compare their findings against patients with confirmed diagnoses.

Whole body imaging seems likes a complex technology that would require a long period of time to take “pictures” of internal organs from head to toe. A MRI of a body part can, indeed, take up to 1 hour. However, the reality is that if you have traveled internationally over the last 5 years by airplane, you’ve already experienced a full body scan.  The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began to implement whole body scanners in U.S. airports in 2008 to detect both metallic and non-metallic threats to air travel.

The President’s budget proposal, released last week, cuts cost for health care. In particular, the processes for obtaining diagnostic images are coming under governmental fire for patients covered through Medicare. But the question arises, will that really save costs? Or is it just pushing around an inevitable medical bill, while causing suffering to those most in need?