Myth vs Reality: The Truths about the Common Misconceptions in Teleradiology

Teleradiology is a relatively new player in the field of radiology. It is all about giving radiologists access to different cases all around the world. Teleradiology is an infant compared to all the other fields of Medicine. Some people might have already heard about it, but hearing about it doesn't really equal knowing all about this field. A lot of people still have misconceptions on what teleradiology is all about and its effect on radiologists everywhere. We at Teleradiology Hub give you the most common misconceptions about teleradiology and the truths behind them. We heard your questions and we've got answers.

Myth #1 : Insufficient clinical patient details

Having access to medical images is only half the battle when making a diagnosis and treatment plan. Radiologists need to talk to the patient to ask some questions. If radiologists don't have access to patients, they can't ask about additional tests and follow-up procedures. As a result, radiologists working remotely can't do anything except report his findings to the primary care physician in charge of the patient. This leads to confusion and miscommunication which results in misdiagnosis and mistakes in making treatment plans.

Reality: In Teleradiology Hub, we take measures to ensure that every radiologist is armed with maximum clinical details needed to make reports. We make sure that each case comes with a requisition form or referral form from the patient's doctor, clinical detail form filled in by the technologists or the radiographer and contact details of the technologists and the referring doctor.

Myth #2 : Insufficient communication with the referring doctor

Sometimes in this line of work, radiologists encounter very important findings. It is very important to transmit urgent or significant information to the patient's physician and/or the patient himself. However, this can't be possible for teleradiologists.

Reality: Clinico-radiological discussions are very vital to clinical diagnosis and treatment. They result in a change of clinical diagnosis 50% of the time and a change of treatment 60% of the time. We at Teleradiology Hub believe in fostering a bond and establishing a line of communication between the radiologist and the referring doctor or the technologist that performed the imaging.

Myth #3 : No contact with the radiographer or technologist

In radiology, interaction between the radiologists and the radiographer or the technologist doing the scan is very important. Radiologists have different scan protocols. There are times when they need additional sequences. This is not possible in Teleradiology.

Reality: In our company, we allot our Teleradiologists a maximum of three radiology centers. We do this to allow our radiologists to get familiar with local radiographers and the supporting staff. We also want them to be familiar with CT and MRI machine protocols over time. We do our best to foster a bond between our radiologist and the local team.

Myth #4 : Inferior quality reporting

Not everyone has the skill to read and interpret medical images to formulate diagnoses and make treatment plans.

Reality: Unlike most hospitals and diagnostic centers where they do not follow the peer review system, radiologists in Teleradiology Hub work hand in hand to ensure excellent case reporting. We offer high quality reports by using the double reporting system. In our company, it is our standard operating procedure to recheck reports made by the primary radiologist by the senior team of radiologists. We do this to ensure that there are discrepancies, typographical errors and inappropriate wordings. Our team also makes sure that there will be no missed findings from every report.

Myth #5 : Taking jobs of local radiologists

Teleradiology is a threat to local radiologists. Since teleradiology services include subspecialty services, the more interesting cases will be removed from local hospitals and diagnostic centers and transferred to major centers. This will do great damage to the careers of general radiologists. Loss of demand for the services of local radiologists will mean the closure or downsizing of some of the local radiology departments.

Reality: India has approximately 10,000 radiologists. This is not at all enough for a country with a population of more than one billion like India. With the current number of radiologists, there is more or less a ratio of one radiologist for every 100,000 people. This is a very far cry from the radiologist to patient ratio of one radiologist for every 10,000 patients in the US. The patient load of Indian radiologists is 10 – 15 times bigger than their American counterparts. In a new research report on the Indian Diagnostic Services Market Outlook 2020, there is a 27.5% expected growth for the diagnostic services market in the next five years. This growth is largely attributed to improved healthcare facilities, medical diagnostic and pathological laboratories, improved private-public projects and an improvement of the health insurance sector. In addition to that, the public has had an increase in health consciousness coupled with the rising burden of chronic diseases. There is a projected swelling of INR 860 billion in market revenues by the year 2020.

Teleradiology Hub is not taking job opportunities from local radiologists. There are more than enough for patients for each and every radiologist. In fact, Teleradiology Hub is creating more jobs for radiologists not just for radiologists in India, but also radiologists all over the world.

Myth #6 :  Low pay scale

Price plays a very big role when hiring radiologists. There are a few radiologists who would make CT scan and MRI reports for as low as 100Rs per case. The competition among radiologists for more cases forces other radiologists to also report cases using incredibly low prices.

Reality: India is an open market. This means that companies and individuals are more than welcome to decide pricing for cases. The severely low prices have a horrible effect on the quality of reports made. This means that the number of cases and patient load becomes more of a priority than well-made reports. Our company is all for quality over quantity. We at Teleradiology Hub strongly believe in making high quality reports which is why we have a designated minimum professional fee for every test. None of our radiologists make reports for such non-viably low prices. 

Let us know if you have any more myths or queries related to Teleradiology.