Teleradiology technologies and some service models

Teleradiology has become increasingly important in the managed care radiology practice environment. In order to fully appreciate the teleradiology operation, we have to understand the current technology available, some service models, and trade-off factors. This paper is organized in three parts. The first part is a review component of a teleradiology operation as well as state-of-the-art technologies. In the second part, we generalize several service models based on our past experience to illustrate the trend in teleradiology applications. The last part on trade-off factors is derived from field data. Four major factors (image capture, workstation, image compression and communication technology) balance a teleradiology operation in terms of cost, image quality, and turnaround time. The major issues in teleradiology yet to be resolved are patient confidentiality and image authenticity. Copyright 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.