Challenges Faced When Adopting Teleradiology Services

By Karen Butler


The information technology service industry has impacted the global work environment by creating a workforce that is able to operate 24 hours a day. Advancements in telemedicine have been pioneered especially in the field of teleradiology. A radiology in one part of the world is able to offer teleradiology services to hospital staff working night shift in another part of the world.

It is now possible for radiology services to be offered across countries and different time zones. This has improved patient care, especially in emergency situations. A radiologist in one country can offer a diagnosis to personnel in an emergency situation in a remote hospital in another country. The staff is then able to offer the patient the right treatment.

E-commerce platforms have made service delivery even more efficient. Not only can a radiologist offer their service, the platforms enable the billing, work flow monitoring and payment to be automated. This has increased the efficiency and reliability of the delivery process.

The services are being offered to large hospitals, remote clinics and even in emergency rooms. The platform has enabled many hospitals to be cost efficient during the night shift as they have reduced the need to hire extra personnel to work at night. With the platform set up, it is possible for one radiologist to actually offer the service to several client hospitals in different locations during the night shift.

There are many benefits of this service such as the increased quality of patient care. Several challenges have been noted to hinder the adoption of this service extensively across the globe. By inhibiting the growth of the service, the kind of medical care being given to patients is directly affected. One of the major challenges is brought about by the technology. Expert technicians are needed to operate the equipment used and they are not very many in the labor market. For a clinic or hospital to be part of teleradiology, it must have a reliable internet source for the connection to be made. In remote areas, this is difficult to obtain.

The process of acquiring a radiology consultant has also been a barrier to the rapid adoption of the service. Most of the licensing requirements and board certifications in the client hospitals require an appointment or physical meeting with the consulting radiologist before engaging him or her. This is the current regulatory structure that needs to be addressed for the medical service to be adopted with ease.

Medical liability laws also differ between countries. There is a gap that remains unclear when it comes to delivery of radiology services across such countries. Liability claims have also been made over incorrect use of the equipment as well wrongful transmission of data leading to a wrong diagnosis.

Another obstacle that has faced the spread of the service globally is the security and confidentiality concerns that have been raised. The patient data is usually transmitted over a public network and the threat of unauthorized access to this data is present. The hospitals involved in the setup need to safeguard the information they have and have it encrypted without affecting its reliability.




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