A Medical Device Daily

Digirad (Poway, California), a provider of medical diagnostic imaging systems and services, said it has signed a "letter of understanding" with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, Maryland).

Johns Hopkins will be available to read diagnostic images for primary care physicians, throughout the greater Baltimore area and surrounding counties, using Digirad in-office cardiac imaging. Digirad's mobile imaging service will provide equipment and personnel who will perform the imaging procedures in the physicians' offices. Through agreements between the physicians and Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins cardiologists will interpret patients' images and the results will be returned electronically to the referring physicians.

Digirad CEO Mark Casner said the company's business strategy supports better patient care, because it combines the family physician's patient-specific knowledge with the diagnostic expertise of specialists at leading medical institutions such as Johns Hopkins.

Casner said the company expects "substantial benefits for patients, including excellent quality imaging, readings by highly skilled cardiac specialists and the comfort of knowing that their own doctors will remain closely involved in their care."

"With this service, physicians can be more effective at patient scheduling, provide important diagnostic services, and offer the specialized expertise of a leading medical institution while maintaining the primary patient relationship," he said.