Radiologists in India need to value their main product: The Report

Running a teleradiology firm is not easy in India.  It is not just about lesser per case remuneration. 

Because of two basic reasons. One in India we are doing mass health check up or lung screenings. People come to the Doctor when they are sick and we anyhow have a higher positivity rate in the radiology departments. Plus to add to it,  there is always an element of “cherry picking” and by chance the “odd case” goes to the teleradiologists.  We hardly get a normal MRI brain in our network. We get cases which are out of routine. 

To add to it our reports are under a stricter scrutiny all the time.  Threat of losing the contract is always there. And I have always felt that a different set of quality parameters are applied to teleradiology as compared to routine reporting. 

Hence, I always tell my team, to create quality report with good clinically relevant impression and limited differentials.   We have to be on the “top” of our games always.   Report is our main product as a radiologist and if you are practicing teleradiology this report needs to be the showcase of your quality.   Teleradiology converts Radiology practice into commodity and the product is report. Somehow, I feel our residency training in India, focuses more on identifying findings and theory, but how to integrate it into a report which is acceptable in practice, is missing. 

And the only way the radiologists learn is, on the job, but sometimes the clients may not give you enough time. 

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Author Represents:  TeleRad Providers  : Delhi based Teleradiology firm, pioneers in this segment.