Technological Advancements Adding More Dimensions to the Teleradiology Industry

Teleradiology helps healthcare professionals to access the patient information irrespective of the distance which improves the diagnostic coverage. The rise in the adoption of teleradiology for timely diagnosis is expected to propel market growth. Clinics and hospitals were expected to be the largest end-users of teleradiology. Further with the advancement of technology and digitalization, the hospitals are further adopting it for automation and digitalization the patient records. The adoption of advanced imaging modalities is expected to improve the workflow of the hospitals and boost the market demand for teleradiology during the forecasted period. The rise in the number of imaging procedures is expected to adopt the teleradiology solution for reliability and efficiency. Teleradiology is adopted by the trained professionals to transmit images such as CTs, MRIs, and X-Rays from one location to another to effectively analyze the case study. Teleradiology is easily available to the rural population.

teleradiology market

However, Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) from January 2020 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.

Some of the players of the teleradiology market are Sectra AB, All-American Teleradiology, Everlight Radiology, StatRad, LLC, 4ways Limited, Task Force Health Care, and Telemedicine Clinic. 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.

Market Drivers

The teleradiology market is rising due to emergencies, shortage of healthcare professionals such as musculoskeletal radiology, neurology, and pediatrics, especially during the pandemic. The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the teleradiology of Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) further the rise in the activities of research & development related to eHealth are the key factors that are predicted to boost the market demand for teleradiology solutions during the forecasted period. For instance, HDM world chose RamSoft’s PowerServer PACS for its business model and is expected to increase the safety and safety of the patient data transfer thus allowing quicker diagnosis. Demand for the out of hours reporting is considered a critical application especially in the cases of very serious injury and requires a fast and accurate diagnosis. Because of the lack of on-site radiologists working out of hours, the diagnostic image can be sent externally to the tele radiologists. However, the advancement of technology can have a significant positive impact on teleradiology which will improve the speed, accuracy, and decision support. In November 2020, 4ways has recently invested in a new Interactive Voice Routing telephony system to help them deliver greater efficiency across their urgent services.  

North America to Hold the Major Share

The teleradiology market is segmented by region as North America, South America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Asia Pacific. North America is projected to hold the largest share of the teleradiology market due to the rising geriatric population, increase in awareness regarding teleradiology among individuals, technological advancement, and the prevalence of high chronic diseases. The region is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecasted period. Further, the supportive initiatives by the government, increase in the demand for efficient teleradiology solutions and developed infrastructure are likely to boost the teleradiology market in this region.

While Europe accounts for a significant share of the market. The rise in the number of awareness programs regarding teleradiology and its application is expected to augment the teleradiology market.

The Teleradiology market is estimated to be driven by the shortage of radiologists in certain regions. 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.

COVID-19 Impact

The outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown impacted every industry including the teleradiology market. The teleradiology market has been on the upward trend and is expected to continue to surge during the forecasted period. During the pandemic, the market demand for teleradiology services increased as the lockdown has led to rising dependence on the technology due to work from home and the shift of university and schools online. Teleradiology offered by the providers is flexible, scalable quality with reporting service that can respond to the time constraints, various subspeciality, reporting delivery, and geography constraints. It is expected that post-covid-19 the teleradiology market will witness lucrative growth during the forecasted period as it is estimated that post-crisis teleradiology will be adopted as the daily routine of the radiology services.