Printing’s Place in Digital Medical Imaging

Reading Time: 2 minutes read

The digitalization of medical imaging and the adoption of PACS and EHRs have created a common misconception that there’s no longer a need to print medical images. Yes, with digital imaging radiologists and physicians have instant access to images in their offices, but they still have needs for hard copy prints.

Joseph Maune, Global Business Manager, Advanced Printing Solutions, Carestream Health

The radiology practices that we’ve talked to suggest that the need for diagnostic printing isn’t going away, but rather is shifting towards a mix of diagnostic and referral printing.  When consulting with colleagues and patients many referring physicians still prefer a print to share images.  In turn, many radiology practices are looking for new ways to provide their referring physicians with high quality prints.

A high quality, color print is a great  way to present advanced visualization studies, and can provide a way for the radiologist to differentiate himself to referring physicians.  For grayscale images, some of our customers indicate that providing images only on a CD is less efficient for referring physicians.  Providing a hard copy print of the key images adds value to the radiologist’s report and allows the referring physician to quickly see the images of interest.

This shift toward referral printing requires different printing solutions with lower total cost of ownership. The DRYVIEW Chroma prints both grayscale film and color paper prints – so facilities can use one printer to meet all of the needs of their referring community.  In this digital case study, Dr. Alberto Sahagún, radiologist and owner of Radiología y Ultrasonido San José SA de CV, Mexico, explains how his facility is currently using printing solutions, and shares the value that color printing brings to his practice:

view digital case study

Are you meeting all of the imaging needs of your referring community?  Are you sure?