Nuclear medicine teleradiology in regional and rural centres of Western Australia

We have established a nuclear medicine teleradiology service for rural and regional areas of south-west Western Australia. This study aimed to evaluat e whether existing treatment models had altered in ways which were directly related to improved medical outcomes and reduced cost. Preliminary observa tion into musculoskeletal injury of the ankle joint included diagnosis of 1 0 radio-occult talar dome lesions which in some cases had not been identifi ed until six months after the trauma. Several cases suggest that nuclear me dicine provided a more timely diagnosis and actively altered treatment. Fur ther, the potential role of radiologists as primary-care extenders in guidi ng appropriate investigations and defining the nature of the illness before specialist consultation may lessen the economic burden on public health ca re while creating economies of scale by expanding the clinical usefulness o f the nuclear physician over a large rural area.