Positive Implications of Teleradiology

[puppetmaster]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I know there is some talk about shipping slides to India through the internet and the worry about turf/salary wars. I am more interested in the possible benefits of teleradiology and the legalities/feasibility of it. Specifically, I'd like to know if in the near future, perhaps within the next 10 years, if radiologists could potentially "work from home". How feasible would this be with the expected increases in personal bandwidth and computing power? Would there still be a great need for radiologists to actually work in hospitals? I ask these things because I'd like to know if I can buy an RV and travel across the country and work while camping in the wilderness, assuming satellite internet takes off, or just work from home and babysit the kids.

 

[SoCalRULES!!!!!]

I think it is important to be in the hospital. Clinicians like to have a good relationship with their radiologist and pathologist. And that relationship is what will keep the jobs for going overseas. A doc in LA won't want to call some guy in Bangalore about the MRI for his patient. He/she would rather sit down with someone who is familiar and who has helped him/her out before with tough cases.

Also I am not sure the whole overseas radiology thing is that much of a worry. For one, hospitals don't pay docs, so hospitals have no incentive to "farm out" their xrays.