Frequently Asked Questions

Be in charge of your medical care.
You already have a say about who is your dentist, primary care physician or surgeon but not your radiologist. But a radiologist is critical in providing the correct diagnosis, which can sometimes mean life or death. As a patient, you have an important say in who provides your health care and where you receive it. Our mission at pet-vcr.com is to maximize the quality of patient care by providing you with important resources to make the most informed decisions. pet-vcr.com gives you the information and confidence you need to help you and your physician make the best treatment decisions, without the delays, expense and inconvenience traditionally associated with such requests.

What is Radiation Therapy ?
About 60 percent of cancer patients are treated with radiation at some time during their course of treatment.

Radiation therapy is the use of high-energy radiation to treat cancer. A radiation oncologist may use radiation to cure cancer or to relieve a cancer patient's pain or alleviate other symptoms due to the cancer.

Radiation therapy works because the radiation destroys the cancer cells' ability to reproduce, and the body naturally gets rid of these cells. Radiation affects cancer cells by damaging their DNA, so that the cancer cells can no longer divide and grow. Radiation is most effective at killing cells that are actively dividing. Cancer cells are more vulnerable to radiation for two key reasons: they divide more rapidly than normal cells, and they do not repair this damage as effectively as normal cells.

A radiation oncologist may use external beam radiation therapy generated by a linear accelerator (a machine that accelerates electrons to produce x-rays or gamma rays). Proton therapy is another form of external beam radiation therapy that uses cyclotrons or synchrotrons to produce charged atoms that destroy tumors.

Radiation may also be given with radioactive sources that are put inside the patient brachytherapy. The radioactive sources are sealed in needles, seeds, wires, or catheters, and implanted directly into or near a tumor on a temporary or permanent basis. Brachytherapy is a common treatment for cancers of the prostate, uterus, cervix or breast.

Some cancer patients may be treated with radiation alone instead of surgery. Prostate cancer and larynx cancer are often treated in this manner. Sometimes radiation therapy is part of a patient's treatment. When radiation therapy is used after surgery, it is called adjuvant treatment. For example, a woman may have radiation therapy after breast conserving surgery. She can be cured of her cancer and still keep her breast.

Medical mistakes happen.
While many radiologists are competent and excellent physicians, there are some who provide less than optimal service. Additionally, radiologists, just like other physicians, are human beings and make mistakes. Finally, radiologists' skills, training and opinions vary widely. Did you know that most radiological interpretations are done by general radiologists? Radiology has become an extremely complex specialty and usually one radiologist cannot be an expert in all areas. This is why it is sometimes critical for a subspecialist to review your study, especially if it is complicated. Unfortunately, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis does happen. Please take charge of your health and your well-being.

Increased imaging complexity.
The imaging-industry knowledge base has dramatically expanded with the advent of MRI, multidetector-row CT (MDCT), PET/CT, and the newly developing applications for these modalities. Keeping up with the latest advances is becoming a challenge for radiologists. No one can be an expert in everything, so radiology subspecialists have evolved -- first as clinical experts (musculoskeletal, neuroradiology, nuclear medicine, and interventional), then as modality experts (MRI, CT, PET, and so forth), and later as experts in specialized clinical, modality, anatomy, and pathology areas.

Get a different perspective.
Radiologists, just like other physicians, have different personalities, different experiences and different training. Some radiologists are more conservative and others are more aggressive. It might be a good idea to get a different perspective.

What kind of radiological report should I expect?
Our radiologists will interpret your study and issue a detailed, informative and definitive (when possible) written report of our findings.

If requested, we will compare your test to previous radiology exams you've had.

Our radiologists will comment on the quality of the exam and recommend a repeat study if the quality is not adequate.

We will make a specific recommendation for further course of action or follow-up examination.

Why get a remote radiology opinion?
Depending on your location, your availability or your ability to travel, your accessibility to highly specialized care may be limited. PET-VCR.COM service brings radiology experts directly to you and your physician without requiring you to spend time and money on traveling. In addition, most radiologists and imaging centers do not offer a convenient second opinion service.

How can I send you the images?
The easiest and fastest way is to use our secure upload service. You can also upload the original report as well as any previous imaging reports. You can upload the images from any digital source including CD, DVD, flash drive, computer hard drive or cloud storage.

How long will upload take?
If you have a fast internet (highly recommended) our patent pending PET-VCR.COM technology will upload your study in a matter of seconds or minutes.

What if I am not able upload through your service?
Alternate methods for getting your images to us are
You can send us a CD, DVD, flash drive.
You can upload Jpeg files for some studies which have only limited amount of images (for example X-rays).
You can email your study to info@pet-vcr.com.
You can request that your imaging facility either upload images to our secure upload service or send us a CD/DVD

Do I have a right to request the study from the original facility?
If you do not have the images, it is your right to request them from the facility at which your exam was performed and then upload the images as stated above. You can also ask your facility to upload the images for you or send us a CD or DVD.

Can you obtain the images on my behalf?
You may fill out a release form and we will obtain the images directly from the facility at which you had your exam at no charge to you.

Do I need my doctor’s permission to obtain PET-VCR.COM service?
No, you do not. However, we ask that you provide your doctor’s name and contact information so that we can contact him/her in the unlikely event of emergency. Otherwise we will never contact your doctor or send him/her copy for your confidential report, unless you requested us to do so.

How much do your services cost?
We provide you with our PEt-VCR Second openion Reportfor as low as $39 per report. Your report will be returned to you within 2-4 hours, on average ( up to 48 hours in case of complex cases ) , after we successfully receive your images. There is no extra fee of expedited reports!

Are PET-VCR.COM services covered by insurance ?
This is a self-pay service and these services are currently not covered by the insurance.

Can I track the status of my report?
Absolutely. You can track the progress via your personal web-based account until your report is received.

What if there is a problem uploading the images?
Your credit card is only charged when the radiologist is ready to issue your report. If the images are not uploaded automatically for any reason, at this point we will offer free technical assistance. If the disk is damaged or corrupted or images could not be uploaded for ANY reason, your credit card will not be charged. At this point, you will have an option to request another copy of your disk, ask your facility to upload the images directly or send us the CD or films.

Who are the radiologists reading our studies?
We represent a group of internationally certified radiologists trained at top academic institutions. The majority of our radiologists are fellowship trained and many have additional sub speciality certifications. We offer expertise in multiple subspecialties including neuroradiology, musculoskeletal, body, emergency radiology, pediatrics, PET/CT & oncologic imaging and cardiac CT angiography. We carry the necessary licenses and medical malpractice insurance.

Do you have technical support?
Our technical support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Customer service representatives will answer your questions or connect you directly with the radiologist handling your case.

How secure is your system?
Our technology is Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant. Our processes and technical infrastructure guarantee secured and confidential data management.

I do not understand the results or have general questions. Can I speak with the reading radiologist or another knowledgeable medical doctor?

Absolutely we offer communication levels unparalleled in the industry. For a small extra fee, radiologist will give you a consultation and explain the findings on your imaging study as well as discuss and explain your condition in general terms. In addition our radiologists will respond to your physician inquiry typically within the same day. Please note that our radiology can not form a doctor-patient relationship over the phone and since they do not know your full medical history, all consultations are general in nature and serve as opinions only. It is strongly recommended that you speak with your own doctor regarding definitive treatment options and recommendations.