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As Managing Director of Purview, Les Trachtman drives Purview’s shared mission to improve medical outcomes and access to quality medical expertise for millions of people, regardless of geography. Les is a seasoned entrepreneur, educator, and author with over four decades of experience in strategy, consulting, and start-ups. Les is also an adjunct instructor at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, where he shares his years of experience and insights with the next generation of business leaders. He is a frequent guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, MIT and other academic institutions, as well as a board member of The Metro Group. Les is also known as the author of the Amazon bestseller "Don't F**K It Up, How Founders and Their Successors Can Avoid the Cliches that Inhibit Growth", and a blogger on founder succession and other topics. He is passionate about sailing, traveling, and challenging the status quo.
As subspecialists, we all rely on radiology to inform our clinical decisions. Whether it’s an oncologist staging a tumor, an orthopedist assessing a fracture’s healing, or a neurologist evaluating subtle changes on an MRI, imaging often holds the key to diagnosis and treatment planning.
But for many of us, the greatest hurdle isn’t interpreting the images—it’s simply getting them in the first place.
For decades, “ROI” — Release of Information — has been the backbone of how medical records move from one place to another. It served its purpose: ensuring compliance, logging consent, and safely getting data from Point A to Point B.
But ROI was built for a paper-based past — a world of fax machines, CDs, and manila envelopes.
That world no longer exists.
As cross-border healthcare grows, US hospitals and specialty clinics are increasingly receiving requests for second opinions from patients who are located outside the US. These inquiries often involve detailed medical records in foreign languages. While international patients may submit records directly, failure to require translation into English before submission may create clinical, operational, and legal risks.
With the widespread acceptance of telemedicine, the promise of remote healthcare has become borderless. A patient in one country can consult with a specialist halfway around the world, gaining access to expertise that might not be available locally. For complex diagnoses—like rare cancers or neurological conditions—this kind of access can be life-changing or perhaps even life saving. But behind the convenience and speed of remote diagnosis lies an invisible and increasingly critical issue called data residency.
Concierge medicine firms often market themselves as the ultimate solution for peace of mind: expert second opinions, top specialists, and—if you believe the sales pitch—zero malpractice liability for the physicians involved. It sounds great. Too good to be true.
