For hometown patients, the wait is over through new teleradiology company.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 27, 1997--In many smaller towns across America, patients and physicians must wait several days for X-ray results, until a consulting radiologist is regularly scheduled to read the images.

This time lapse creates delays in treatment and higher anxiety for patients and their families.

A newly formed company, INPHACT Inc. Teleradiology, can end the wait. It harnesses sophisticated digital imaging and telecommunications technology to speed results -- in many cases within the hour -- to physicians and patients, while reducing costs.

Through the transmission of images (X-rays, CT, MRI and Ultrasound) over telephone lines to a 24-hour center staffed with board-certified radiologists, INPHACT has compressed the process for obtaining quality diagnostic imaging results.

"Many smaller health care facilities, from clinics to hospitals, cannot afford to have a full-time radiologist on staff or a fully operational radiology department. We serve as a `virtual radiology department,' which allows them to have state-of-the-art radiology services and around-the-clock access to highly qualified radiologists," said Jeffrey A. Landman, M.D., a radiologist, chief executive officer and founder of INPHACT.

"Our services enhance the quality of care available in smaller communities while reducing the cost of that care. It is a vivid example of how technology is being practically applied to benefit patients and health care providers."

Sophisticated software used in INPHACT's central imaging is capable of enhancing and manipulating images to help improve diagnoses, said Landman. The digital software allows INPHACT radiologists to increase brightness and contrast, magnify pinpointed areas and view several images at once, which is not possible with plain film X-rays.

The company also provides central storage of digital images -- rather than film images -- that are immediately available for computer terminal viewing or paper output at the patient's health care facility. In addition, INPHACT's picture archival and communication system can eliminate health care facilities' need for on-site storage of film images, reducing overhead costs.

In fact, depending on facility size and number of imaging procedures performed annually, INPHACT can reduce per image costs by up to 40 percent, said Landman.

INPHACT went on-line with its first full-service relationship in January 1997 with Arcon Health Care's Crystal Beach Center for Health Care in Destin, Fla. Arcon was established to deliver affordable and accessible healthcare to local neighborhoods. INPHACT has formed a strategic partnership with Arcon as the exclusive provider of teleradiology services for the more than 120 small-market health care facilities it plans to open over the next five years.

The second "virtual radiology department" for INPHACT is set to go on-line in late January at a health care facility operated in rural Nevada by Arcon. INPHACT expects to be operational in 15 to 18 facilities in six states by the end of 1997. Within four years the company expects to have up to 30 radiologists on staff to handle up to one million images annually.

Founded in 1996, INPHACT is a privately-held, Nashville-based provider of teleradiology services, including digital image transmission, 24-hour radiology consulting and picture archival and communication.

CONTACT: Katcher Vaughn & Bailey, Nashville

Roy Vaughn or Aileen Katcher, 615/248-8202