Second opinion consultation in Radiology
ARISTRA offers a comprehensive second opinion service by expert radiologists for MRI, CT, or X-ray studies. This is particularly beneficial if you're considering a major procedure and need confirmation of a prior diagnosis by your local physician.
The service enhances diagnostic accuracy and helps in making informed health decisions, providing reassurance with insights from world-class medical professionals.
The service enhances diagnostic accuracy and helps in making informed health decisions, providing reassurance with insights from world-class medical professionals.
Second Opinion Team
Our team comprises world-class board-certified doctors who are all renowned medical experts. Each team member has profound experience in medical research and clinical practice from well-known institutions in Europe and the US.
PD Dr. med.
Johann-Martin Hempel
Certified radiology specialist
Expert in neuroradiology and head and neck radiology
PD Dr. med. Johann-Martin Hempel is an expert in neuroradiology and head and neck radiology. He practised for many years at the University Hospital of the Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen, where he completed his habilitation.
PD Dr. med. Johann-Martin Hempel is an expert in neuroradiology and head and neck radiology. He practised at the University Hospital in Tübingen for many years.
PD Dr. med.
Markus Zimmermann
Certified radiology specialist
Expert for abdomen
PD Dr. med. Markus Zimmermann is an expert in interventional radiology. He specialized in oncological interventions and abdominal imaging, especially CT and MRI diagnostics of the liver. He worked for several years as a senior physician at the University Hospital of RWTH Aachen, where he was responsible for angiography.
PD Dr. med. Markus Zimmermann is an expert in interventional radiology and abdominal imaging. He specialized in CT and MRI diagnostics of the liver.
Prof. Dr. med.
Wibke Müller-Forell
Certified specialist for radiology
Expert for the orbita
Prof. Dr. med. Wibke Müller-Forell is Professor Emeritus at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. There she was acting head of the Institute for Neuroradiology. Her clinical focus is on diseases of the orbita, MR diagnostics of the central nervous system, and interventional stroke therapy.
Prof. Wibke Müller-Forell is Professor Emeritus at the University Mainz, where she was acting head of the Institute for Neuroradiology.
Marcel Sokolowski
Certified radiology specialist
Cardiac imaging expert
Marcel Sokolowski is a specialist in radiology and an expert in cardiovascular imaging, especially magnetic resonance imaging of the heart. He worked for many years at the Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at Cologne University Hospital.
Marcel Sokolowski is a specialist in radiology and an expert in cardiovascular imaging, especially magnetic resonance imaging of the heart.
Dr. med.
Kira Lutz
Certified radiology specialist
Expert for Neuroradiology
Dr. med. Kira Lutz has a medical specialization in radiology with a focus on neuroradiology. She has worked and researched at Heidelberg University Hospital and Freiburg University Hospital.
Dr. med. Kira Lutz has a medical specialization in radiology with a focus on neuroradiology. She researched at the Heidelberg University Hospital and in Freiburg.
Dr. med.
Matthias W. Wagner
Certified specialist for radiology and neuroradiology
Expert for pediatric neuroradiology
Dr. med. Matthias Wagner is an expert in pediatric neuroradiology. He gained his experience in Switzerland, the USA and Canada. For ARISTRA, he works as a teleradiologist for paediatric and adult neuroradiology.
Dr. med. Matthias Wagner is an expert in pediatric neuroradiology. He gained experience in Switzerland, the USA and Canada.
Dr. med.
Andreas Kasperczyk
Certified radiology specialist
Expert for temporomandibular joints and MR mammography
Dr. med. Andreas Kasperczyk is a radiology specialist and expert in musculoskeletal radiology, of the temporomandibular joints (CMD) and MR mammography. As head of his own practice, he gathered years of experience in the field of temporomandibular joint diagnostics, which he now successfully uses for ARISTRA.
Dr. med. Andreas Kasperczyk is a specialist in radiology and an expert in musculoskeletal radiology, of the temporomandibular joints (CMD) and MR mammography.
Prof. Dr. med.
Philipp Bäumer
Certified specialist for radiology and neuroradiology
Expert for Neuroradiology
Prof. Dr. med. Philipp Bäumer is a specialist in radiology with an additional specialisation in neuroradiology. He completed his habilitation in neuroradiology at the University of Heidelberg, where he acquired great expertise in the imaging of peripheral nerves over many years.
Prof. Dr. med. Philipp Bäumer is a specialist in radiology with an additional qualification in neuroradiology. He is an expert in the imaging of peripheral nerves.
PD Dr. med.
Andreas Lubienski
Medical specialist for radiology
Expert for abdomen and musculoskeletal system
Priv.-Doz. Andreas Lubienski is a specialist in diagnostic radiology and an expert in abdominal, musculoskeletal, and interventional radiology. He worked on more than 150 publications during his scientific career as an Author and co-author.
Priv.-Doz. Andreas Lubienski is a specialist in radiology and an expert in abdominal, musculoskeletal, and interventional radiology.
Dr. med.
Michael Willert
Certified radiology specialist
Expert for MSK and oncological radiology
Dr. med. Michael Willert specialises in diagnostic radiology and specialises in diagnosing the musculoskeletal system. He also specialises in multi-parametric MRI of the prostate and oncological imaging.
Dr. med. Michael Willert is a specialist in diagnostic radiology and specialises in the musculoskeletal system, the prostate and oncological imaging.
Prof. Dr. med.
Lorenz Jäger
Specialist in diagnostic radiology
Expert for oncological and ENT radiology
Prof. Dr. med. Lorenz Jäger is an expert in ENT radiology, neuroradiology, musculoskeletal radiology and oncological radiology and completed his specialist training at the LMU in Munich. He has held two visiting professorships since 2018.
Prof. Dr. med. Lorenz Jäger is an ENT, neuro-, musculoskeletal and oncological radiology expert. He has held two visiting professorships since 2018.
Prof.
Shinji Naganawa
Certified radiology specialist
Expert for inner ear imaging
Prof. Shinji Naganawa is a pioneer in inner ear imaging. He has researched the optimization of MR protocols for detecting internal ear pathologies for over 25 years. He is clinically active as Director of the Department of Radiology at Nagoya University Hospital, Japan.
Prof. Shinji Naganawa is a pioneer in inner ear imaging. He has researched the optimisation of MR protocols for internal ear pathologies for over 25 years.
Why get a second medical opinion?
Your first doctor to get in contact with about health situations should always be your primary care doctor. They know you best from many in-person appointments and should help you with diagnosis and a treatment plan for all health problems.
But there are many reasons to seek a different opinion from independent medical care professionals.
- Many patients don't get a clear answer regarding health issues. Even after years of doctor visits and a long journey through the healthcare system, they don't receive a precise diagnosis.
- A patient may want to ask for another opinion before extensive surgery.
- The interpretation of imaging studies of all modalities is very complex. A radiologist with a subspecialty for the medical field in which you have questions can explain more clearly what images mean that your physicians already have taken.
To have complete confidence in your physician's treatment plan, an online doctor consultation may help you as you advance with medical procedures.
For all these cases, ARISTRA offers a service where a board-certified physician will review your medical imaging data and help diagnose your condition. This way, a local physician can continue your treatment, for example, with surgery or medication.
For all these cases, ARISTRA offers a service where a board-certified physician will review your medical imaging data and help diagnose your condition. This way, a local physician can continue your treatment, for example, with surgery or medication.
If you have an emergency or need urgent care, please call emergency services or visit your local hospital immediately.
How to Ask for a Second Opinion?
You request a second opinion and explain your medical condition to us.
Please be advised that we only take non-emergency cases for this service. The whole process can take several business days. If you have a medical emergency, don't hesitate to contact your local authorities!
A member of the ARISTRA team (this will be a physician or a radiology application specialist) will get in contact with you. We will help you transfer your images and review your images to make sure the quality is sufficient.
A CHF 50 fee applies to the initial quality review of your images by one of our imaging specialists.
In case of insufficient image quality, we cannot continue beyond this point. We recommend taking new images at one of our locations or with a local radiologist.
After we have ensured the image quality is sufficient, we will also check prior diagnoses, allergies, and medication with you. This way, we can make an accurate assessment of your health and tell you the final pricing.
We provide the best doctor from our team, who is the most experienced with diagnosing and treating your condition. If you want a specific physician to write the online second opinion, you can tell in the step before. The specialist for your question inspects your medical record and images and writes a comprehensive report.
You will receive the written report via e-mail. You can find an example of our second-opinion reports here.
(Optional) We offer the possibility of having a face-to-face video chat where you can ask follow-up questions to the doctor who wrote your report.
Pricing for a medical Second Opinion
Your health insurance is unlikely to cover the costs of our telemedicine services, as it typically only covers primary care and doctor visits. To ensure you have access to the best doctors online, we have prepared several pricing packages for you. Before any additional costs are incurred, we will first assess the quality of your radiological images.
Please note that, due to the precision required during consultations, we do not offer same-day services.
1. Step: Verifying the quality of your images
Image review
CHF 50
We will verify that the pictures you have are of sufficient quality for your medical inquiry.
Request quality control
2. Step: Request second opinion
Expert consultation
from CHF 300
An international expert for your condition will inspect your case and write a comprehensive report.
Request expert consultation
Video conference
from CHF 500
You will receive a written report from an international expert. Subsequently, you can ask your questions in a video conference.
Request video conference
What our patients and partners say
After visiting several doctors in my country who could not find the cause for the pain in my ankle, the consultation with Dr. Agten was a great experience. He found the cause of my pain and helped me proceed with a treatment that managed to resolve my pain.
Jacek
Patient • Poland
[...]The process to request the report was clear and I was guided through the necessary steps. The second opinion report was sent promptly and was comprehensive and very helpful in that it addressed my questions and described what was visible in the MRI images of that specific area, which confirmed and explained why I had experienced pain. It gave me peace of mind to receive that information.
A.
Patient • Ireland
FAQ - Frequently asked questions
Can an MRI be read wrong?
An MRI is a highly specialized examination. It would be best to trust your current doctor, but a misdiagnosis can always happen. Ordering an MRI review to be sure about a vital health topic can be an essential part of your medical services.
Can you get a second opinion from a radiologist?
Yes. We will connect you to an expert radiologist for most of our second medical opinion services. We recommend a specialist from another medical field with extensive medical imaging knowledge for specific medical questions.
What moves us to offer second opinions?
A patient may ask a doctor for a second medical opinion, which often happens, especially before surgery. Some physicians see it as a sign of distrust in their diagnosis and treatment options. With a remote second opinion by subspecialty radiologists, you can address health concerns discreetly without offending the radiologists that analyzed your images in the first place.
How often is a radiologist wrong?
Defining the error rate of radiologic examinations is challenging. In a 2013 article in the American Journal of Roentgenology, the authors claimed a real-time error rate of 3-4% and a retrospective error rate of up to 30%*.
In day-to-day business, it can be hard to give an accurate diagnosis. In this situation, telemedicine can help with radiology reports and on-demand online second opinion readings.
*Source: Cognitive and system factors contributing to diagnostic errors in radiology; Cindy S Lee, Paul G Nagy, Sallie J Weaver, David E Newman-Toker; DOI: 10.2214/AJR.12.10375
What moves us to offer second opinions?
A patient may ask a doctor for a second medical opinion, which often happens, especially before surgery. Some physicians see it as a sign of distrust in their diagnosis and treatment options. With a remote second opinion by subspecialty radiologists, you can address health concerns discreetly without offending the radiologists that analyzed your images in the first place.
Can I get a second opinion ultrasound?
We can not offer second opinions on ultrasounds. Conducting a ultrasound examination is a highly specialized skillset dependent on the experience of the attending physician. Therefore it is not possible to give a reasoned opinion on the recordings, without having conducted them.
Request your second opinion
Due to too many requests, we are currently not able to process second opinion requests.
You can ask directly at our locations, if they have capacities to process your request.
You can ask directly at our locations, if they have capacities to process your request.
Expertise
Our interdisciplinary team was trained at the best universities. They draw on long experience in research in addition to excellent medical training.
