A Multicenter Cardiovascular MR Network for Tele-Training and Beyond: Setup and Initial Experiences

Purpose: Training in cardiovascular MR (CMR) is an important topic in times of growing acceptance of the method for accurate diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease. However, off-site training is becoming less acceptable with increasing cost and time pressures. We introduce a novel CMR network, capable of providing, remotely, part of CMR training and continuous expert support. By providing a technical and operational blueprint, we want to share our experience in building teaching networks. Methods: Conceptual, technical, and content-related characteristics of our teaching methods are introduced. A total of 97 participants in traditional fellowship CMR teaching and novel module-based network teaching were surveyed to assess their CMR performance. Results: The number of hospitals in our CMR network increased from five in 2009 to 14 in 2014. A total of 79% of network hospitals conducted >100 CMR scans annually. Among these network hospitals are four small institutions (<400 beds), and five medium-sized hospitals (400-1,000 beds). Network teaching reduced off-site training to only five weeks. The time to the first independently conducted CMR scans was one week, with network teaching, but >1 month for 32% of participants in traditional CMR teaching. The CMR network enables experts from distant locations to supervise and control CMR scans in a distant hospital, in real time. Conclusions: CMR networks provide an efficient teaching platform with a minimum of off-site time for trainees. Real-time remote supervision and scan control capabilities support the decentralization of CMR expertise and enables even small and rurally located institutions to offer high-quality CMR scans.