Teleradiology issues and challenges
The teleradiology industry is growing at a fairly fast pace, and the issues and
challenges are emerging just as quickly.
Increased Demand: Emergency department caseloads are
increasing by 10-20% each year because patients are learning that they can
receive care faster by going to the ED. As a result, the demand for after-hours
reads in increasing. A big issue with this for radiology groups is that many ED
cases go unpaid, therefore, radiology groups are ultimately not paid. This
becomes especially problematic when the group had already paid a nighthawk
group to do the night reads.
In the U.S.
Issue: Malpractice Insurance - Lawyers can choose the state
where they'd have better odds of winning the case: file suit in the state where
the teleradiology firm is based, the state where the patient is located, or
even in another state where the teleradiology firm happens to do business.
Issue: Business Threatened - Local radiology practices who
contract with larger groups to help with overflow and do night reads are
becoming more and more concerned that these groups could take their business.
They fear that hospitals do not have loyalty to any specific group, they are
concerned with getting the reads done.
Offshore
Issue: Licensing and Credentialing - In order to provide
international nighthawk services, the interpreting radiologist must be
certified by the American Board of Radiology, licensed in the state in which
the image originates, and have malpractice insurance to cover practice within
the U.S.
Issue: Privacy issues
- American patient information being sent overseas may violate HIPAA. But,
currently, insurance carriers are exporting patient data involved in billing
and coding without issue.
The Pros
While there are issues and challenges with teleradiology, there are also many
positives that come from it. Teleradiology is bringing medicine to the
underserved — it relieves rural hospitals of the burden of trying to find a
radiologist. Radiologists are attracted to this type of work because they are
never on call – they are taking other doctors' call. It's a quality of life
issue.
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