Improvement of patient care through teleradiology

Over the past two decades, teleradiology has gained tremendous acceptance across the globe and the main reason behind this huge success is the way it has changed the form of patient care.

The entire healthcare sector depends on teleradiology or the remote reporting of the radiographic images because it provides quick and very accurate reports.

There are several factors one can talk about which can prove that how patient care can be improved using teleradiology:

Constant availability of a radiologist: The main reason which gave birth to teleradiology was the unavailability of a radiologist at the time of emergency to overcome this problem new methods were tried to get the best care for a patient in the emergency hours in less time. Teleradiology when explored solved all the worries of a general physician. Even at the time of emergency when there is no radiologist available onsite, the treatment is not delayed anymore, the scans taken can be outsourced to a radiologist who can provide the report remotely from anywhere and anytime.

The exclusive role of nighthawks: To elaborate further on the above-mentioned fact, the support provided by teleradiology is not only needed in the emergency hours such as night time but also during weekends and other holidays where a radiologist is unavailable onsite. The nighthawks are the radiologists who can then play a stroke of luck by providing support with their knowledge all the time, which sometimes prove consequential for serious patients. They work in their day hours which in the other place might be a night hour as per different time zones but with teleradiology, the different time zones can be bridged and the purpose of improved patient care is achieved.

Improves Turnaround Times: In places where the number of the radiologists is much less than the diagnostic centers, the workload is sometimes overwhelming which results in delayed reporting of the scans. Delayed reporting not only troubles the patient but also hampers the workflow of a healthcare center. To avoid such delay teleradiology can be used which can reduce a turnaround time at an amazing pace. By providing reports on time the treatment can be started early resulting in better care especially for the cases where each minute counts.

Specialist support: For a patient to have been knowing that the report has been given by a specialist sometimes serves as half the treatment being done. Teleradiology is capable of providing all the types of specialists may be in terms of field such as neuro-radiologist, pediatric radiologist, maxillofacial radiologist, etc or in terms of technologies such as CT, MRI, USG, etc. A single radiologist can’t have expertise in all forms of radiology due to which sometimes a definite diagnosis is skipped which results in compromised patient care. Thus to achieve better care it is strongly advisable to approach a sub-specialist radiologist. 

Provision of second opinion: As per the above-mentioned fact a sub-specialist is needed to provide advice on a diagnosis especially when a rare disease is encountered. Using teleradiology a second opinion can be gained from a specialist radiologist remotely which may prove to be a key factor in a successful treatment.

Enables e-training: In the medical field, it is very important to be aware of the latest knowledge about features and treatment of any disease to serve the people well. With the application of teleradiology, the knowledge gained from one part of the world can be shared with the other which can help to understand the disease better and further treat it more successfully. It can directly improve patient care immensely with the latest treatment.

Cost-effective: The cost of the digital radiography used for teleradiology is absolutely low when compared to film radiography. The cost of the patient care reduces with the usage of this technology in turn enhancing better patient care.

In the present scenario, the form of technology being used with teleradiology (such as AI) has raised the standards of patient care to the next level. It has directly impacted the rate of positive outcomes of the treatment and made it easier for radiologists as well to tackle drastic situations like the present pandemic.

Thus whether it is a routine patient care or a calamity like COVID-19 patient care through teleradiology will always have benefits.