Teleradiology Africa – Cloudex Radiology

Teleradiology Services Are Forerunners Among the Healthcare Providers to Adapt to Hybrid Work in Contemporary Times

The healthcare management faced a tough situation during a pandemic time and emerged victorious in extending the best care to COVID & Non-COVD patients as well as safeguarding its medical care providers (clinical & non-clinical); and with the understanding that technology-driven practices and contact-less patient care are the new norms and necessity.

Today, medical technology integrated with deep learning and artificial intelligence is one of the major contributing factors. On-line consultation through telemedicine, teleradiology, drone services, e-pharmacy, remote working, and at home services are some of the examples contributing to reduced or no exposure. Radiology was among the forerunners that made a swift adaption to new norms and supported the system with remote working. The technology companies too supported the medical system’s functionality either in maintaining or increasing the efficiency of the operational team during the patient flow surge.

Teleradiology system driven by technological advancement has emerged as one of the most reliable modes of the patient care system in any given situation to deal with, be it a reporting for emergency or isolated COVID patients or IP/OPD patients, and could cope with the surge in image reporting through the option of remote reporting. This hybrid work norm supported many institutions in delivering patient care without any delay. Today’s teleradiology is integrated with the latest PACS, AI enabled workflow, internet connectivity with wide bandwidth and an experienced back-end support team that has made the reporting possible with short TAT. Technology companies have developed systems to transfer and archive the large dataset with integrity fulfilling the radiologist’s need for high-quality images for reporting.

Machine Manufacturers are also contributing by developing systems that capture high-quality images with low dose radiation and high sensitivity. And to catch up with the trend of imaging services at point-of-care, compact mobile machines are getting developed to fulfill the need. The ultrasound machine and mobile X-ray machines are proving it with their wire-less and cloud-computing features.

Remote Learning is being embraced by educators and many clinicians. The online recorded or live sessions have become the mode of learning for aspiring future physicians and medical professionals. Webinars/conferences and interactive sessions are being conducted virtually benefiting the healthcare providers and patients.

With progressing time, the positive and productive approaches of radiologists, healthcare providers and technology companies the recovery from the pandemic is becoming a reality.

Cloudex Teleradiology Solutions during Pandemic

Cloudex with its advanced teleradiology service in India supported many health centers worldwide managing the patient surge with its prompt reporting services. The reporting was dominated by X-rays, CT and MRI scan mainly for emergency cases as other patients were curtailed from outpatient services. Our experienced and expert teleradiologists team extended their much needed services relentlessly round the clock. Safety measure guidelines were strictly followed by the back-end team while reporting was done remotely. The non-stop and timely service deliverance which includes subspeciality reporting in this crucial time helped many centers in facilitating patient recovery and saving lives and it turned out as their winning edge.

At Cloudex, we support you to have that winning edge.

Cloudex Celebrates its 10 years of Teleradiology with 6 million patient’s smile curves

A humble start of Cloudex’s teleradiology services in 2012 has grown in leaps and bounds and has reached this celebration point. The journey so far covered has been full of coordination, compassion and patience filled. Each day has passed by with learning, growth and sometimes stumbling’s too. Today, we can share and write on our success stories; and redefine it with growing service demand, advancing technology and addition of sharper minds.

Our success is because of our dedicated team who nurtured Cloudex’s initiation into international presence, helped in soaring the service avenues and winning many hearts and clients.

The intention of contributing to community has been formulated with care in order to bridge the gap in radiology services – learning & skill upgradation programs apart from setting up radiology service centres and teleradiology service support to healthcare centres. Cloudex has initiated online and offline developmental programs for aspiring radiology clinicians, expanding its service network through partnership beyond boundary. We are intensifying our venture in improving accessible radiology by establishing scan centres under PP partnership where increasing patient scan numbers talks about our investment on people, technology, equipment and customer service.

Our Milestone achievements in past 10 years can listed as –

Over 6 million patients benefitted with our services
Over 100 Radiologists contributing to the smile curve
International presence of 16+ countries
Team of 40+ roped together with one mission of service

Currently, Cloudex is extending its clinical service to healthcare centres across India including those located in difficult to reach terrains and rural parts. And internationally, some of the centre in African countries like Botswana, Ghana, Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam are benefitting from our services.

In this demanding pandemic time, empowering the health centres with the winning edge seems to be success mantra. And Cloudex accepts it and strives to remain at par with industry trend, match the expectations of the associated healthcare service providers, raise the service delivery standards. And create a conducive work environment for the team which propels to give their best efficiently. At Cloudex, we strive to provide that winning edge or satisfaction and saving life.

Teleradiology Proves as a Reliable, Efficient and Economically Viable Services for All Stakeholders

The discovery of Radiology by Wilhelm Roentgen, Professor of Physics at University of Wurzburg, Germany in 1895; has revolutionized the way trauma and illnesses are diagnosed and treated. Today, Radiology is not only aiding the diagnostic skills of the physician but also used for quantitative measurement of anatomic and functional processes, image-guided invasive interventional procedures, and an assessment of functional / performance of the organs.

Technology and Teleradiology:

Teleradiology integrated with advanced technology is capable of delivering rapid, reliable, real-time healthcare services without any delay/interruptions irrespective of the geographical limitations and access to specialized reporting services. The digital radiological images are compatible to be viewed on different electronic mediums (electronic monitor/display, note pads, mobile). The radiological image reaches the Radiologist’s workstation without any subsequent intervention for enhancement and review. Various software (PACS & DICOM standards) and hardware support the whole system in maintaining the quality of the image during the process (acquisition, transmission, storage, retrieval); and different compression techniques are employed to contain huge data and maintain the integrity of the digital images. Healthcare service delivery with quality, promptness, correct diagnosis, and appropriate treatment adds to the patient’s satisfaction. This whole system encompasses reliability, efficiency, and economically valued services for every stakeholder.

Reliability: The protocols, technology-based systems, and multimedia-driven communication channels have made Teleradiology one of the reliable medical services. The other contributing factors are quality of reports, access to a range of tele-reporting services (nighthawk/subspecialty / after-hour services/emergency / second opinion/weekend), experiences and expertise of the radiologists. And this reliability is intangible. It supports the referring physician or emergency department in real-time similar to on-site radiologist whereas for the centers (primary/secondary) present in rural or in geographically challenging places (for e.g., mountain terrains) it provides the physician in delivering medical care without any delay, helps the patient in deciding on transfer (trauma/emergency) or shift to a tertiary center, and encourages the efficient use of the healthcare facilities.

Efficiency: Time is a crucial factor in patient care delivery. Teleradiology contributes to it by enabling Physician to take important decisions and delivering prompt services. It improves the Emergency department’s capacity & throughput whereas, in multispecialty tertiary hospitals, it works out as an alternate coverage for after-hours / vacation/weekends and plays important role in clearing the department’s stack. Teleradiology enhances the efficiency of healthcare centers (Secondary / Primary / Diagnostic centers) by facilitating patient care without delay, providing access to subspecialty reporting, handling postoperative complications, and reducing the readmission rates.

Economical, low-budget solutions with high value for money have been encouraging and are one of the main reasons for constant transformation and adaptation of teleradiology in line with the technology and demand in medical services. Every stakeholder, be it patient or hospital management or radiologist or treating physician gains reasonably from Teleradiology. The satisfied patient adds a competitive and winning edge to serving medical facilities.

– Clinically, the Physician is able to gain patient confidence and satisfaction by delivering prompt patient care with accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

– Radiologists are able to manage better work-life balance and have networked with sub-specialty radiologists.

– Hospital management wins in multiple ways; efficiently provides medical services round the clock, handles emergency / critical cases without added costs or overheads, delivers patient care without any delay/interruption. And thereby succeed in achieving popularity with word-of-mouth promotion through satisfied patients.

– Patients are the ultimate beneficiary of this whole system with prompt medical care which not only saves time and money but also lives. Availability of imaging reports at once provides an option to decide on many things like treatment plan/necessity to travel or shift to a specialized center, organizing fund, and emotional support.

Cloudex Radiology Solutions backs the quick TAT with reliability and efficiency…

Cloudex’s panel of qualified, experienced, and expert teleradiologists are capable of providing the interpretation of the radiological image with accuracy and profoundness in details that aid in the revelation of the underlying cause of abnormalities. Our team stands up to the statement on quality as briefed in Radiographics, 2011. 31(6): p. 1511-27 – “Quality in radiology is multi-dimensional and includes measuring, monitoring and improving various aspects of the workflow, including examination appropriateness, procedure protocol, the accuracy of interpretation, timely communication of imaging results as well as performance improvements in safety and efficiency”. We, at Cloudex work with the hospitals / diagnostic centers as a team in ensuring quality patient care from the point of entry, through scan to report delivery by involving the reporting radiologist at each stage ensuring the right protocol, adequacy, and safety of procedure while delivering the accurate interpretation within expected TAT.

Cloudex along with its reliable and efficient team delivers teleradiology services and helps its referring physician or medical facility in winning more satisfied patients as a winning edge in this competitive field.

At Cloudex, we support you to have that winning edge.

Quality in Teleradiology Reporting

“Quality is the extent to which the right procedure is done in the right way at the right time, and the correct interpretation is accurately and quickly communicated to the patient and referring physician.” Hillman et al

Teleradiology is playing a crucial role in delivering patient care with its prompt and quality service.

The quality of radiological reporting depends on multiple parameters apart from the internal review and external feedback system like

Communication between the reporting radiologists and referring physician for better understanding of the case

PACS and workflow management

Operational team (CTC)

Access to reporting tele-radiologist for clarification / discussion

The Internal Parameters can be listed as –

1. Internal Quality Assurance Team sets up an auditing system involving methodology on random review of the reports and peer reviews at regular intervals. The key performance indicators (KPIs) are prepared by the team in alignment with the organization’s objective and external auditor’s standards (if involved). The experts evaluate the reporting by carrying out random double reporting, peer review, and discuss the discrepancies with reporting radiologists.

Evaluation of the discrepancies, formulation, and implementation of corrective measures followed by evaluation of implementation is a cyclic process in order to improve the quality of report and service delivery. The option of contacting the reported tele-radiologist for further clarification and discussion on prognosis is available.

The new recruits are initially engaged in preliminary reporting for familiarization with the tele-reporting system and are supported with constant review and feedback. This also involves eLearning, teleconferencing, telemedicine, and other technological processes.

2. Procedure Protocol indicates the Right Procedure & Right Way which impacts many other parameters. The protocol includes a checklist drafted by the team on imaging procedures, image uploading/transfer, availability of support documents, defined TAT for emergency & regular cases, filled request form, to & fro communication between the referring physician and reporting radiologists, assigning of images to radiologists, etc.

3. Credentials of the tele-radiologists including the sub-specialization and experience per se augment the value of the report. In critical cases like emergency / STAT reporting, the unique skill of picking up the hidden markers in a short time plays a critical or decisive role. Their clinical focus in reporting improves referring physician’s proficiency to advise or decide on suitable investigations/management of patients.

4. TAT is variable and crucial for referring physicians in taking control of the situation, be it for emergency or regular cases. Today, because of the technological benefits, the TAT for an emergency case is approximately less than 30 minutes whereas for any inpatient or outpatient 4 to 8 hours is maintained. Especially in teleradiology, the other factor which determines the TAT is mutual agreement between the service provider & referring center and considering cost factor as well.

5. Miss Rate is determined by continuous reviewing of reports at regular intervals by the review panel and a lot of measures are undertaken to keep it low. The positive culture of the review panel establishes an environment that is instructive, supporting cognitive debiasing and retrospective analyses. Clients are also encouraged to report “misses” by categorizing them based on their implicating severity. Feedback and discussions with referring physicians help in the process.

The External Parameters which can be considered are

1. Client’s feedback system serves two purposes – understanding the quality of report and reporting services although both (service provider and referring center) would have laid down the SOPs to be followed at either end. The upload of images of other recently conducted investigations, along with other laboratory, pathology reports and previous documents like discharge summary / clinical and operational notes helps in the accurate and detailed interpretation of the images.

2. Accreditations by the authoritative body confirms compliance with protocols set by the authority matching the industry requirement and benefitting every stakeholder. Inspections are conducted to check the protocol implementation and service delivery at regular intervals and the certification is renewed accordingly. If any discrepancy is noticed, a Plan of Correction (POC) is provided with the timeline for implementation.

Cloudex Solutions ensuring the right procedure, the right way, right time, and correct interpretation

A team comprising of qualified experts like radiologists, clinicians, and technologists who are well supported with state-of-the-art RIS PACS technology, round the clock (24 x 7 x 365) reporting services complement to the client’s advantage. The objective of doing the right thing at right time in the right way is achieved by integrating programs to adhere to protocol, utilize the quality improvement tools, and conduct of skill up-gradation workshops.

Cloudex brimming with experts and a wide range of tele-reporting services ensures delivery of the correct interpretation at right time in the right way; enabling the healthcare service provider to deliver quality patient care without delay and assuring proper treatment saving on time and money.