| |
Teleradiology has become an essential part of
the practice of radiology, with broad
implications for care delivery and the
organization of work. The same technology that
can transmit a radiograph or a computed
tomographic (CT) scan obtained at night at an
emergency department in Philadelphia to
Bangalore, India, for reading during the day can
move any digital radiograph anywhere at any
time.1 Within minutes, images can appear on the
desktop of a radiologist at home, in an office
several floors away from a central reading room,
or at another hospital. Studies can be
transmitted to the referring physician, a
workstation in the operating room, a specialty
radiologist for a second opinion, or a
"nighthawk" company for after-hours coverage.
One of the accredited companies is Teleradiology
Solutions, based in Bangalore. Founded in a home
office in 2002 by a husband-and-wife team - a
radiologist and a pediatric cardiologist who
were both trained at Yale - the company now has
a five-story, 70,000-ft2 headquarters, an office
in New Haven, Connecticut, and a computer server
in South Carolina. In the spring of 2007, it
employed eight U.S.-trained radiologists: four
in Bangalore, three in the United States, and
one in Europe. They provide nighttime coverage
(with a 30-minute turnaround) to about 50
hospitals in the United States. About three
quarters of the studies they read are CT scans,
primarily of the head, abdomen, and cervical
spine; others are ultrasonograms for the
diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy, testicular
torsion, or gallbladder disease, as well as
nuclear-medicine studies in patients with
suspected pulmonary emboli or unexplained
bleeding. The reports are normally sent by fax,
with a follow-up telephone call to confirm
receipt; if there are findings necessitating
urgent treatment, the radiologist calls them in.
Teleradiology Solutions also employs
radiologists trained in India to read studies
for six hospitals in Singapore, three in
Bangalore, and several remote sites within
India. |
