Teleradiology has always been a vital technology in the world of radiology. But with the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic it sparked a boom in remote reading as radiology departments and imaging centers turn to teleradiology to keep their functions flowing smoothly while abiding by the norms of social distancing.
Teleradiology helps in providing accurate diagnoses much faster than the traditional film images. Radiologists all over the world are supporting teleradiology. Today, digital images like x-rays, magnetic resonance images and others can be easily sent from one location to another using the web based picture archiving and communication system (PACS). The images sent by this picture archiving and communication system can be viewed by many radiologists all around the globe at the same time. This helps save time and is an effective way of obtaining diagnoses from specialists in various different locations.
Teleradiology first came into existence in the 1990s with the adoption of the DICOM 3.0 image standard and high internet bandwidth. It was initially used by radiologists to read it from home in after office hours in case of emergency but later on it was accepted by various healthcare professionals. Later on, it also became more of a traditional model for interpreting images from a centralized reading room.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, teleradiology was often used for call and overnight shifts but after the pandemic hit, the survey found an overall increase in the installation of new home workstations by 65.2% and switching normal daytime shifts to internal teleradiology by 73.6% across various different geographical regions.
The scenario was different when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in the U.S. in March 2020. Many institutions shut down or reduced staff to keep both patients and doctors safe. They installed teleradiology in order to treat the patients and also abide by the laws of social distancing. This helped develop seamless radiologic interpretation capabilities and also protect vulnerable radiologists and hospital workers. Teleradiology did a wonderful job.
Teleradiology is a great advancement in the field of imaging for radiologists and physicians. It helps improve patient care by allowing radiologists to provide services without having to be at the same location as the patient. As the web based PACS is instantaneous in nature, it saves precious time of both the radiologist as well as the patient.The diagnosis through teleradiology has expedited recovery.
The use of PACS has numerous advantages over the traditional film imaging system. Digital images sent using PACS can be received by the radiologist in no time in any part of the world. Whereas the traditional film imaging system required the images to be processed over time and also required a lot of storage space and someone to maintain them as according to the HIPPA standards. Storage is not a problem with digital images; you can save thousands of images on a server which can be in the corner of a room. Since these images are stored onto a server, they are easily accessible whenever required. Teleradiology is a major step towards improved patient care. Using teleradiology it is possible to get in touch with specialists in any part of the world and so it has proved immensely beneficial for smaller towns where finding a specialist can be a problem.
Advanced Telemed Services is a pioneer in providing teleradiology services to hospitals in United States. It also serves globally. In case if you wish to know more about ATS, visit https://www.