Contrast in ER Abdominal CT

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Permalink Reply by Pete Burger on February 9, 2009 at 8:44am

I know this is kind of a turf issue thing.. but as a question.. is it really the job of the radiologist to enforce these type rules coming from the ER?.. Once the radiologist has basically educated the ER physician as to the benefits of contrast is it not the job of the ER doc to decide what the exam should be?

A hard question because of course the radiologists are involved in the care of the patient but..I can see how it can be touchy.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Hite on February 9, 2009 at 12:05pm

Thanks for the comments. I hope more people weigh in on this thread. It is an important issue as the function of radiologists to manage the imaging protocols. This allows the most economical way to image as well as radiation protection for the patient. Since the ER physicians are not interpreting the images, I am not sure this is a turf issue. In private practice we tend however to do what the ordering clinician wants to " satisfy the customer" and our educational process is slow. I hope more of the radiologists will weigh in on this and other issues regarding our role in appropriate patient management in the imaging department.

Thanks.

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