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Thomas R. McLean and Edward P. Richards Teleradiology: A Case Study Of The Economic And Legal Considerations In International Trade In Telemedicine Health Affairs, September/October 2006; 25(5): 1378-1385. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

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Teleradiology Outsourcing Can Go Two Ways

Hank Kearney   ( 14 September 2006 )

Teleradiology Is The Future Of Radiology

Vijay Pathi, Dr. Rohit and Dr. Ashok   ( 11 October 2006 )

Teleradiology is a logical solution to the Radiologist shortage

Sumer Kumar Sethi   ( 6 December 2006 )

Waiting To Happen

MGK Murthy   ( 20 December 2006 )

Teleradiology: A Cheap And Effective Solution

Dr. Sarika Gupta   ( 30 November 2007 )

Teleradiology Outsourcing Can Go Two Ways 14 September 2006
Hank Kearney, CEO PHM International Send comment to journal: Re: Teleradiology Outsourcing Can Go Two Ways hankk{at}phmintl.com Hank Kearney	McLean and Richards illustrate the rational and logistical issues of unilateral outsourcing. However, I would encourage readers to think of international trade in medicine, and teleradiology in particular, as a two-way system of optimizing their own in-house expertise. The legal and regulatory issues of whom and how teleradiology images are read will be resolved in time, simply due to economic pressures. And a by-product of these efficiencies will be a larger pool of physicians with expertise in reading challenging images. But at one level this can be viewed as a commodity practice with downward pricing due to market expansion. Two-way trade requires organizations to think critically and objectively of the expertise they possess -- the expertise that adds value to a process. In the case of teleradiology, a hospital may consider its expertise in image segmentation, registration, and visualization. In this scenario, the commodity process of who takes the image, or who reads the image, is easily assigned to a low-cost, low-value position. In turn, hospitals would want to consider the high-value part of teleradiology, which can be seen to include the skills of image segmentation, co-registration, pre-operative mapping, etc. Most hospitals will react to the current market pressures and move much of their radiology efforts to the commodity, low-cost, low-value market. But a few are already exploring how to contract out their own high-value in-house expertise to other markets, and other hospitals.
Teleradiology Is The Future Of Radiology 11 October 2006
Vijay Pathi, CEO Fhidias, Dr. Rohit and Dr. Ashok Send comment to journal: Re: Teleradiology Is The Future Of Radiology vijay{at}fhidias.com Vijay Pathi, et al.	Radiology is going through different phases of its interesting life cycle. There is immense pressure on radiologists, given the huge volume of images being churned out from inumerable CT/MRI machines worldwide. There is an ever-increasing shortage of radiologists in the Western world. Given the defensive medicine being followed, the demands on radiologists to be perfect and accurate are increasing, and with more workload, radiologists are unable to cope with the pressure. There is a waiting period of more than a year in the UK. The NHS system is collapsing under the pressure of health requirements. The newer radiologists coming out of the US, UK, and EU will not be able to meet the growing requirements. The growth of BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) will increase the demand in these countries, leading to a brain drain from the US to these areas. Teleradiology comes to the rescue of a human logistics nightmare. It enables aggregation of resources, optimum utilisation, and productivity. Teleradioogy will enable the flow of radiology expertise from areas of surplus to areas of requirement, worldwide. The current legal and other such issues will disappear due to the sheer economic benefits. Like it's said, "IT'S ECONOMICS, STUPID." Teleradiology is the future of radiology -- the world over.
Teleradiology is a logical solution to the Radiologist shortage 6 December 2006
Sumer Kumar Sethi, Doctor (Radiologist) Consultant Radiologist,Indian Spinal Injuiries Centre, http://www.indianradiology.com Send comment to journal: Re: Teleradiology is a logical solution to the Radiologist shortage sumerdoc{at}yahoo.com Sumer Kumar Sethi	Teleradiology is a part of the growing telemedicine trend, as technology enables the speedy transfer of medical data over the Internet to virtually anywhere. Health care is seeing a boom again thanks to contributions by the information technology in health care. With the quantum of work that a radiologist faces in his day-to-day life increasing by leaps and bounds and the number of images he has to see and more importantly accurately report getting almost unmanageable, teleradiology seems like the only answer available. Share the work is the right answer. Another obvious driving force behind teleradiology is the economics of it all. It saves time and money both. And I think anybody would agree that it is better to have your images read by a consulatant abroad than a resident in town who is half asleep and fatigued. A major hurdle that is preventing teleradiology to go the big way is licensing issues. I would suggest, why doesn't the ACR conduct a few exams abroad and in the US itself and get people practising abroad to sit in it; those who qualify can be made eligible to work from off shore centers, and it can be made mandatory for them to say attend some number of CMEs and acquire CME credits to maintain their license. With economics so strongly placed in favour of teleradiology, the licensing part will be solved surely sooner or later. I agree with Vijay that teleradiology is the future of radiology practice.
Waiting To Happen 20 December 2006
MGK Murthy, Sr. Cons. Radiology VIMHANS, New Delhi, India Send comment to journal: Re: Waiting To Happen drmgkmurthy{at}gmail.com MGK Murthy	I have always wondered why the West, which has readily embraced software techies, advocates, chartered accountants, and now teachers, is wary of medical consultants from the so-called developing world. One of the apparent explanations is that medical practitioners were one of the earliest professional immigrants to the West, which has led to a majority of them settling down in their adopted country. The world has changed, and, as is apparent now, the flow of information is a two-way process, with cost differentials, low-cost markets, cheap labour, etc. vaporising into thin air. We are in a global village, and with reverse migration in force, a majority of professionals do not wish to settle abroad. As per estimates, an average U.S. radiologist is expected to have a workload of 620,000 images per day by 2011, and we have no choice but to involve the community as a whole to interpret these. It would be a wonderful idea to have fellowship exams in all nations with a license to practice telerad only, or accept credentials of two decades' clinical and teaching experience as a criterion for review or supervisory people for telerad. Radiology reports need to be accepted confidently by clinicians, and a few video discussins between people concerned would be required before surgeons operate on a patient. In any case, there is no alternative but to use 6.5 billion mankind for its own good.
Teleradiology: A Cheap And Effective Solution 30 November 2007
Dr. Sarika Gupta, Consultant radiologist MD Radiology Send comment to journal: Re: Teleradiology: A Cheap And Effective Solution drsarikarajan{at}gmail.com Dr. Sarika Gupta	The world is flat, and I belive that teleradiology will soon surpass all legal and technological barriers. The postgraduate radiology training in the premier medical institutes in India is nearly at par with training in the U.S. and U.K. For the purpose of quality assurance, the teleradiology service seekers can recognise the degrees awarded by such institutes. Or else an exam may be conducted for providing "teleradiology certification." Teleradiology will definitely take over the world in the years to come.