Improving patient care with fast, reliable radiology results
Published by Dr. Stephanie Lantry | Animal Medical Clinic of Gulf Gate
CHALLENGE
Dr. Stephanie Lantry is the owner of Animal Medical Clinic of Gulf Gate in Florida and has been a practicing veterinarian for the past 21 years. After graduating from Tufts Veterinary School in Massachusetts, she began her career specializing in small animals. Each of her hospital’s two full time doctors sees anywhere from 5-10 cases each week that require radiographs to be taken.
One of the biggest hurdles Dr. Lantry faced was getting reliable radiology results in a timely, efficient manner. Often she realized that third party radiologists weren’t providing definitive results and would request further CT scans. Turnaround time for radiologist consults was slow and they would often need to request STAT reviews to get results in a timely manner.
DISCOVERY
When Dr. Lantry initially heard about SignalPET from a colleague, she was wary of trying artificial intelligence (AI) technology, noting that “reading x-rays is an art and it's something that you really develop with experience over time.”
But after giving SignalPET a try, she immediately fell in love with the service and now cannot imagine doing without it.
“When we signed on with SignalPET, and we learned about not only the low costs to us as veterinarians for the radiology studies, but the ease with which to submit them, that made a huge difference,” she stated.
IMPACT
The biggest benefit for Dr. Lantry has been the reliability of the AI results.
“We really do rely on having a second set of eyes. I know they're not human eyes, but more of a checks-and-balances thing. It makes us slow down and look at the films more closely. It is a positive thing for everybody,” she shared.
Recently, Dr. Lantry was visited by a new client, who is a dog breeder. The client drove about an hour to get to her clinic, looking for a second opinion to help diagnose possible hip and elbow issues with her dogs. All three dogs had co-owners in a local breeding program. It was important to get radiographic reviews and printed reports, because there was a huge financial investment in this program and she needed to present these reports to the other program owners. The client was thrilled to have the fast SignalPET radiology results, and she told Dr. Lantry's staff she'd be sure to return to Animal Medical Clinic of Gulf Gate for all of her future veterinary needs.
“The fact that we had these printouts to give her from SignalPET, she was so impressed by that...she said, ‘you are worth driving over an hour to go, you are so much more up to date with your equipment than other vets I have been to, you're really a specialist,’” added Dr. Lantry.
For Dr. Lantry and her staff, it’s been easy to see the difference that SignalPET’s AI solution for veterinary x-rays has made for their customers. Their clients are continually impressed not only by the shared radiology reports, but take comfort in the fact that their pet’s veterinary care is supported by advanced technologies.
In addition to the gains she’s seen in client satisfaction, SignalPET has helped her and her staff to provide more confident, accurate diagnoses and elevate the quality of care for their patients.