Assessing the impact of Teleradiology on diagnostic accuracy and turn around time at Mulago National Referral Hospital

Abstract

Teleradiology has revolutionized diagnostic imaging by enabling remote interpretation of radiological images, thereby improving access to specialized care (Kalyanpur et al., 2010; Larson et al., 2014). This study aimed to assess the impact of teleradiology on diagnostic accuracy and turnaround time (TAT) at Mulago National Referral Hospital. A retrospective cohort design was employed, comparing diagnostic accuracy and TAT before and after implementation of teleradiology services. The study utilized a mixed-methods approach, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative data analysis (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). Preliminary studies suggest that teleradiology can significantly reduce TAT (Andrabi et al., 2015; Binkhuysen & Bosmans, 2016) and improve diagnostic accuracy (Brady et al., 2012; McTiernan et al., 2018). However, challenges such as image quality, network connectivity, and radiologist fatigue must be addressed (Wysoki et al., 2016; Abujudeh et al., 2017). This study contributed to the growing body of evidence on the effectiveness of teleradiology in resource-limited settings, informing policy decisions and guiding implementation strategies. The findings of this study have implications for improving patient care, reducing healthcare costs, and enhancing the overall efficiency of diagnostic services at Mulago National Referral Hospital This study involved 33 respondents of which 26 (78.79%) were radiography students at Mulago National Referral Hospital while 5 (15.15%) were radiographers at Mulago National referral Hospital. From the study, it was revealed that 48.48% of the respondents had received formal training in teleradiology while the rest had not received any training in teleradiology. Despite the majority of the respondents reported to have used teleradiology frequently, 33%, there were those who had never used it (27%) Most of the respondents 69.7% were not sure of the teleradiology systems that are used at Mulago National referral Hospital while a few respondents reported to be Teleradiology Solutions (TRS) In Conclusion majority of the respondents believed that Teleradiology has improved significantly the diagnostic accuracy (42.42%) while 39.39% said it improved significantly while 12.12% said they were neutral. Almost all respondents believed that teleradiology has improved misdiagnosis hence improved patient care.