Teleradiology Market Size, Share, Opportunities, COVID-19 Impact, And Trends By Product (X-ray, MRI, CT Scan, Others), And By Geography - Forecasts From 2021 To 2026

The teleradiology market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.81% to reach US$9.049 billion in 2026 from US$3.658 billion in 2019. Teleradiology is the ability to obtain images of the internal body in one location and their transmission over a distance so that they can be viewed and interpreted for diagnostic or consultative purposes by a radiologist.

This recent practice is being implemented widely by hospitals, urgent care clinics, and specialist imaging companies.   

Impact of COVID on teleradiology:

The teleradiology market has been on an upward trend and it will continue to grow in the coming years. During the period of the COVID-19 outbreak, there was an increase in the demand for teleradiology services. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the understanding of the people working from home. Teleradiology providers deliver a scalable, flexible quality with assured reporting service which can respond to geography, reporting demand, time constraints, and various subspecialty constraints. It is estimated that post-crisis teleradiology will become a part of the daily routine of radiology services. It is estimated that the teleradiology market will witness lucrative growth in the coming years.

Market Drivers:

• The market of teleradiology is estimated to be driven by a shortage of radiologists in certain countries. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges specialist shortfall will continue to increase and will reach nearly 42,000 by the year 2033. Moreover, in Europe, the UK and Eire have an exceptionally high shortage of radiologists; in the year 2019, there was an estimate of 7 radiologists per 1,00,000 people in the UK and Eire.
• The increased demand for specialized modalities for example CT, MRI, etc. will boost the demand for specialist radiologists who are capable of interpreting complicated imaging examinations. This in turn will boost the demand for teleradiologist expertise.
• Demand for Out-of-Hours reporting is for time-critical applications for example neurology or in the case when there is a suspicion of a very serious injury in such cases the patients require a fast and accurate diagnosis. However, due to the lack of on-site radiologists working out of hours, the diagnostic image can be sent externally to a teleradiologist.
• The increase in the use of cloud-based technology is making implementing IT for teleradiology less complex.
• Technological advancements will have a significant impact on teleradiology. It will help in providing speed, accuracy, and workflow/decision support.
• • A European consortium consisting of leading research centers of Europe, hospitals, and major pharmaceutical companies will develop a repository for sharing pathology data. This announcement was made in January 2021, it will help take AI development in pathology to another level. It is a 6-year, €70 million project which has been called BIGPICTURE.
• In August 2020, Change Healthcare announced the acquisition of Nucleus.io, a fully enabled medical image management platform of NucleusHealth.
• 4ways has recently invested in a new Interactive Voice Routing telephony system in November 2020 to help them deliver greater efficiency across their urgent services.  
• In the year 2017, Teleradiology Solutions and GE Healthcare joined hands to improve the access to advanced radiology interpretation services across India.
• Hospitals and clinics are estimated to be the largest end-users of teleradiology. With the advancement of technology and digitalization, hospitals are inclining towards automation and digitalization of patient records. Furthermore, the shortage of radiologists due to the COVID pandemic and the adoption of advanced imaging modalities will improve the workflow of the hospitals and boost the demand for radiology in the coming years.

Market Restraints

• Starting from January 2020, the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) will require referring providers to consult Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) using a Clinical Decision Support (CDS) tool when ordering advanced diagnostic imaging services – CT, MR, Nuclear Medicine, and PET – for medical patients. These developments will significantly hamper the growth in the US market.
• Another major challenge for the teleradiology market is the data breach of imaging reports. Teleradiology enables sharing medical images to facilitate the delivery of care however the cybersecurity measures are not taken into consideration. It is the legal obligation of the service provider to ensure that private and confidential information about the patient should be protected.  Most of the clinical picture archive and communication systems (PACS) use DICOM i.e., digital imaging and communications in medicine, standard image format for the medical images. This could result in data loss and could cause a lot of disruption in the hospital system. Moreover, if the information is misdirected or altered it may hinder timely diagnosis and treatment of the patient thereby posing a serious threat to the market of teleradiology. 

North America to witness lucrative growth in the market.

The North American region is estimated to hold the largest share in the market. The factors attributing to this greater share are the rising geriatric population, prevalence of high chronic diseases, a large number of diagnostic imaging procedures, increase in awareness among individuals about teleradiology and technological advancements in this region will drive the growth in the market.

The Asia Pacific region is estimated to be the fastest-growing region in the teleradiology market. This growth will be driven by rapidly expanding healthcare infrastructure and growing unmet healthcare needs. China and India will hold a large proportion in the Asia Pacific region. A large population in developing nations resides in rural areas where healthcare facilities are very limited. The demand for teleradiology services is estimated to increase because of its cost-effective diagnostic interventions.

Major Players

The major players in the market of teleradiology are Sectra AB, All-American Teleradiology, Everlight Radiology, StatRad, LLC, 4ways Limited, Task Force Health Care, and Telemedicine Clinic. These companies compete with each other by making huge investments in R&D, entering into a partnership, mergers, and acquisitions.       

Teleradiology Market Scope:

Segmentation

• By Product
  • X-Ray
  • MRI
  • CT Scan
  • Others
• By Geography
  • North America
    • U.S.
    • Canada
    • Mexico
  • South America
    • Brazil
    • Argentina
    • Colombia
    • Others
  • Europe
    • U.K
    • Germany
    • Italy
    • France
    • Netherlands
    • Spain
    • Others
  • Middle East and Africa
    • Israel
    • South Africa
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Others
  • Asia-Pacific
    • China
    • Japan
    • Australia
    • South Korea
    • India
    • Others

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. What are the growth prospects for the teleradiology market?
A1. The global teleradiology market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.81% during the forecast period.

Q2. What will be the teleradiology market size by 2026?
A2. The teleradiology market is estimated to reach a market size of US$9.049 billion by 2026.

Q3. What is the size of global teleradiology market?
A3. Teleradiology market was valued at US$3.658 billion in 2019. 

Q4. Which region holds the maximum market share in the teleradiology market?
A4. North America region is estimated to hold the largest share in the teleradiology market.

Q5. What factors are anticipated to drive the teleradiology market growth?
A5. The market of teleradiology is estimated to be driven by a shortage of radiologists in certain countries.