The pandemic has brought many a challenge to the healthcare community. Many of these challenges have been met head-on by digital health solutions. Radiology is a huge proponent of digital health technology, including telehealth solutions like teleradiology. Practices that had not embraced teleradiology in the past have now realized what value it brings and will hold on to it long after the pandemic has subsided.
Embracing the Cloud
Radiology is a field that continually has new technologies available to improve the care they can provide, and now radiology departments small and large, have taken on cloud-based technologies to ease their workflow. Increasingly, the cloud is being used for storing and sharing medical data, including images.
Since the pandemic set in, almost 70% of healthcare professionals responding to a survey by Nutanix said the pandemic has caused them to view IT more strategically within their organization. This means that many of them pumped up their digital transformation efforts and will employ increasingly more hybrid cloud deployments over the next five years. Those efforts will be valuable if cloud-based imaging technology is also supported.
Telehealth Investments
Prior to the pandemic, many healthcare providers avoided telehealth for a number of reasons, but the biggest issues seemed to be focused on licensing problems, reimbursement issues and general unfamiliarity with it. However, that changed fast once the pandemic forced social distancing measures.
Teleradiology became a go-to solution for healthcare facilities around the globe as measures were taken to keep employees safe. Late last year, the teleradiology industry was predicted to reach more than $65 billion globally by 2026. That number represents the promise providers put into the technology and its ability to help ease workflows and enhance patient services.
Choosing a Solution
Not all teleradiology solutions are built alike. In fact, one of the criticisms of many teleradiology approaches is that there is no accountability; once an exam goes out, nobody really knows where it is and you can’t even change an exam priority because there are no communication opportunities available.
Top vendors have made accountability a priority and are also providing the ability to prioritize exams even after they’ve been sent. The best solutions are the ones that offer updates through every step of the process.
At OffSite Image Management, we’re committed to giving total exam accountability back to the hospitals. Our teleradiology offering is a 360-degree solution, which is why we call it TeleRAD360. It’s a premiere cloud-based teleradiology platform that integrates RIS, imaging worklist management, voice recognition, report distribution, cloud diagnostic viewing and complete mobility.
Find out more about how it works and how it will benefit your imaging needs by contacting us today.
