Carpe Diem. The world is your oyster. Use whatever cliché you want but when it comes to veterinary radiology the only thing holding you back from success is yourself.
In a recent discussion with some veterinary radiologists they expressed concern that “big corporations” were doing “something” or had an “unfair advantage” when it comes to getting teleradiology clients. Remarkably, none of them had any evidence or could cite a single example of how a digital radiography vendor, lab vendor, or anyone else was preventing them from getting new clients.
In the last several years I have done hundreds of prepurchase consultations with veterinarians looking to buy digital radiography systems. During those consultations I looked at hundreds of purchase quotes and talked with hundreds of veterinarians. In all of that time, I did not see a single company do anything to prevent a veterinarians from sending cases to a local radiologist. If there was something fishy or underhanded going on, don’t you think that I would have seen or heard something in all that time?
In fact, the converse is true. At DVMinsight we configure a few dozen new clients each month. We work directly with all of the digital radiography vendors and, despite a few hiccups here and there (usually because a new employee did not know what they were doing), all companies, including Idexx and Antech, have gone out of their way to assist us in getting their clinics configured. Moreover, some companies go out of their way to see that outside teleradiology companies are taken care of so that 1) the radiologists working at their company recommend their equipment and 2) they do not want any questions about impropriety with regard to teleradiology.
The bottom line with all of this is that if you think there is a conspiracy out there and the boogey man is preventing you from building your teleradiology service you are mistaken and looking for excuses to fail. Building a teleradiology company is hard work but if you get out there, visit your local clinics, and work with other radiologists to provide your clients a 24-7 service, you will be rewarded for your efforts.