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Haitham Alahmad,1,* Mansour A Almanaa,1,* Ahmad Abanomy,1 Mohammad Alarifi,1 Khaled Alenazi,1 Mousa Matabi,2 Raed Albathi,3 Rayan Moslem4 1Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Radiology Department, Seha Virtual Hospital, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Radiology Department, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4Radiology Department, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Haitham Alahmad, Radiological Sciences Department College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 145111, Riyadh, 4545, Saudi Arabia, Tel +966114693567, Email hnalahmad@ksu.edu.saBackground and Aims: Teleradiology is the practice of interpreting medical images acquired in an off-site location. Teleradiology has been utilized widely around the world to address the needs for subspecialty coverage, workload balancing, and as a solution for understaffing. This study aims to assess the perceptions of teleradiology among radiologists in Saudi Arabia, investigate any challenges they might face, and explore strategies that would help mitigate those challenges.Methods: A cross-sectional study using a self-administered electronic questionnaire was conducted to collect responses from radiologists practicing or having practiced teleradiology in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was conducted from January to June 2023, and 105 responses were included in the analysis. The responses were analyzed using chi-squared testing to investigate factors affecting the radiologists’ perceptions.Results: The most common challenges for teleradiology were access to patients’ health records, access to prior imaging exams, and concerns about image quality assurance. Around 74% of participants perceived teleradiology to be beneficial for geographic, after-hour, and subspecialties coverage. Teleradiology was also perceived to help reduce the turn-around time of radiology interpretations. Better communication with referring physicians and technologists was seen as a way to help improve teleradiology services.Conclusion: The findings suggest that the perception of teleradiology’s challenges and benefits may not be influenced by experience, workplace, or subspecialty. Emphasis should be placed on the importance of quality assurance of images acquired remotely. Addressing the concerns and challenges related to access to patients’ health records is also crucial to ensuring the successful implementation of teleradiology in the country.Keywords: teleradiology, radiology, diagnostic imaging, image interpretation, Saudi healthcare |
