[Technique and economics of first worldwide roentgen conference via public phone lines with the Medical Desktop-Conference and Integrated Services Digital Network].

The introduction of the world's first Medical Desktop-Conference via public phone lines (ISDN-S2M) in spring 1994 for the weekly discussion of radiological findings with 25 orthopedic surgeons has proved the effectiveness of this system developed by the project BERMED. The use of standard hard- and software as well as ISDN are the most important factors to keep the system costs low. Technical advantages can be seen in the immediate, loss-free transmission of image and other patient-related data and in the integration of digital archives. Medical advantages are the 24-hour-availability of the radiologist and quality-control of the radiologists work. Practitioners and external hospitals can be tied closely to radiological service centers by using ISDNetwork.