Teleradiology Impact on Health Care System

Teleradiology is the transmission of radio-logical patient images, such as X-Rays, CTs, and MRIs, from one location to another for the purposes of sharing studies with other radiologists and physicians. For this process to be implemented, three essential components are required, an image sending station, a transmission network, and a receiving / image review station. Imaging on Call provides TeleradiologyService to clients all across the United States.   

Impact of Teleradiology on Clinics/ Hospitals:  Imaging centers are having distinguished benefits from the use of teleradiology reporting services. These benefits are applicable even if the centers are having a low volume of radiology studies. Some of the key benefits are listed below.  Teleradiology services offer provision of sub-specialty opinion and support which may be beyond the skills of an existing team.  Provision of after hour services which relieve radiologists from the burden of being on-calls at night. Enable small centers to provide teleradiology services without actually hiring a permanent radiologist.  Vacation and weekend coverage for the resident radiologists More efficient use of radiology infrastructure.

Cost Efficiency : One of the biggest cost (and time) wasters for radiologists is travel. Teleradiology solutions however, cut out the need for travel. It allows the radiologist to work from anywhere that is most convenient and cost-efficient. Immediate Medical Imaging Results: T eleradiology solutions eliminate the need for film, cds , dvds , and mailing, the radiologist and reading physician have immediate access to the images over the internet. Improved Healthcare Access in Rural Areas : Since teleradiology solutions are web-based, their geographical reach is almost limitless. Any hospital, from a small community hospital to a large referral hospital can benefit from the strategic use teleradiology solutions Impact of Teleradiology on Healthcare System

Pros and Cons of Teleradiology:

Pros of Teleradiology 

• Cost efficiency 
• Immediate Medical Imaging Results 
• Improved Healthcare Access in Rural Areas 
• More Competitive Radiology Program Faster transmission for second opinion.

 

Cons of Teleradiology 

The barriers for successful implementation of teleradiology include : 

• Problems with telecommunications. 
• Energy infrastructure problems. 
• It required a proper setup of internet and other devices 
• The minimal teleradiolo-gical solutions are often informatically too complicated, unpractical to use and do not have all the necessary functions etc.