Digital radiography at three clinics with a radiologist over-read.
On-site X-ray
Digital plain films taken, read and acted on in the same visit, with published decision rules deciding who actually needs one.
How this works at QuickCare
Three of our four clinics have digital radiography on site, staffed by technologists registered with the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. Your provider reads the images immediately so that treatment starts in the same visit, and a board-certified radiologist over-reads every study, usually within 24 hours. If the over-read changes anything, we call you.
We also try hard not to image people who do not need it. Validated decision rules, the Ottawa ankle and foot rules, the Ottawa knee rule and the Canadian C-spine rule among them, are very good at identifying who can safely skip a film. Applied properly the Ottawa ankle rules are close to 100 percent sensitive for clinically significant malleolar fractures and cut unnecessary radiographs by roughly a third.
Plain film has limits, and we say so. Scaphoid fractures are notoriously invisible in the first two weeks, so a snuffbox-tender wrist is splinted and re-imaged whatever the first film shows. Suspected cervical spine injury, significant head injury, suspected pulmonary embolism and acute abdominal pain needing cross-sectional imaging all go to an emergency department for CT rather than through our door.
What is included
- Digital radiographyExtremity, chest, rib, pelvis and spine views on flat-panel detectors at Midtown, Edmond and Moore.
- Immediate provider readYour provider reviews the images in the room and starts treatment in the same visit.
- Radiologist over-readA board-certified radiologist reviews every study, typically within 24 hours. Discrepancies trigger a phone call.
- Images released to youA copy on secure link or disc at no charge, for the orthopaedic office or specialist you are referred to.
- Splinting in the same visitVolar, sugar-tong, thumb spica, short leg, walking boot and sling immobilisation stocked on site.
- Referral when imaging is beyond usCT, MRI and ultrasound are arranged or referred, not attempted here.
Step by step
- 01Examination firstThe decision rule is applied at the bedside. If you do not meet it, we explain why a film would not change your care.10 min
- 02ImagingStandard views plus any additional projection the injury calls for. Lead shielding for anyone who may be pregnant.10 to 15 min
- 03Read in the roomImages go straight onto the exam-room monitor with your provider.5 min
- 04TreatmentSplint, boot, sling, buddy taping or orthopaedic referral, decided before you leave.15 min
- 05Over-read and follow-upRadiologist report within about 24 hours, with a call if anything changes.Next day
Do not come here. Call 911, or go to an emergency department, for:
- Neck pain after a high-speed crash, a fall from height, or with any numbness or weakness
- An obviously deformed limb, or a bone through the skin
- A limb that is cold, blue or pulseless below the injury
- Head injury with vomiting, drowsiness or blood thinners on board
QuickCare is an urgent care clinic. We do not treat life-threatening emergencies, and we will call an ambulance for you if you arrive with one.
Questions about on-site x-ray
A two-view extremity series is a very small dose, on the order of a fraction of a day of natural background radiation. A chest X-ray is roughly the background dose you receive over about ten days. We still image only when the result will change your treatment.
Tell the technologist. We offer a urine pregnancy test, use lead shielding, and for many extremity injuries the dose to the uterus is effectively negligible. Where imaging can safely wait, it waits.
Yes. We provide a secure link or a disc at no charge, and we can send the study directly to the practice you are referred to.
Some fractures do not show on day one, the scaphoid bone in the wrist being the classic example. If the exam says fracture and the film says nothing, we treat the exam and re-image in 10 to 14 days.
General information only, not medical advice. It cannot replace an examination, and it does not create a provider and patient relationship. If this is a medical emergency, call 911.
Need on-site x-ray today?
Walk into any clinic, or hold your place in line first. Either way you see a provider, not a kiosk.