No doubt, there are significant benefits from Teleradiology. It can offer reports any time and in less cost and second opinion can be sought from any skilled radiologist.
Teleradiology promises to increase in overall productivity of diagnostic output. The reporting speed improves dramatically. Radiologists can report the cases from anywhere and at anytime. Radiology Sub-specialists can be selected to report the complicated cases. So each case can be looked up differently. This could give justice to the case i.e. patient. However the clinical data needs to be acquired from patients either on phone or in physical meet.
A case given below highlights nearly 50% savings in reporting budget when a diagnostic facility shifts from 'fixed pay' model to 'variable telereporting' model.
| Model | I | Model | II | |||||
| Month | Cases | Radiologist | Shift | Fixed Sal | Tele Fees | Shifts | Var Fees | Savings |
| Jan | 100 | 1 | 1 | $12,500 | $60 | 3 | $6,000 | $6,500 |
| Feb | 150 | 1 | 1 | $12,500 | $60 | 3 | $9,000 | $3,500 |
| March | 200 | 1 | 1 | $12,500 | $60 | 3 | $12,000 | $500 |
| April | 170 | 2 | 1 | $25,000 | $60 | 3 | $6,000 | $14,800 |
| May | 150 | 2 | 1 | $25,000 | $60 | 3 | $9,000 | $16,000 |
| June | 110 | 2 | 1 | $25,000 | $60 | 3 | $6,600 | $18,400 |
| July | 300 | 2 | 1 | $25,000 | $60 | 3 | $18,000 | $7,000 |
| Aug | 100 | 2 | 1 | $25,000 | $60 | 3 | $6,000 | $19,000 |
| Sept | 200 | 2 | 1 | $25,000 | $60 | 3 | $12,000 | $13,000 |
| Oct | 110 | 2 | 1 | $25,000 | $60 | 3 | $6,600 | $18,400 |
| Nov | 250 | 2 | 1 | $25,000 | $60 | 3 | $15,000 | $10,000 |
| Dec | 410 | 3 | 1 | $37,500 | $60 | 3 | $24,600 | $400 |
| Annual | 12 | $262,500 | $135,000 | $127,500 | ||||
| Pro'vity | 200% | 48.5% |
Table 01: Analysis of Teleradiology Budget and Traditional Reporting Budget
Above Sample case for Teleradiology method over conventional reporting method seems to give us productivity increase. The budget savings of almost 50% and Timely turn around time(TAT)at 200% under following assumptions:
| 1. Radiologist appointed in Fixed Pay model are with 5-6 years of experience gets paid $12500, including allowances as Salary in USA |
| 2. All Cases in this example are Large Studies:CT Abdomen. A standard radiologist can do 10 large cases per day at 100% capacity. |
