Development of Teleradiology in Private Practise in Serbia and its Influence on Increased Efficiency and Effectiveness of Medical Professionals

Abstract

Teleradiology is a system of electronically transmitting a radiological image from one location to another for interpreting or consulting purposes. Teleradiography allows for a prompt interpretation of radiological examinations over a distance and offers a range of opportunities for a secondary, consultative examination. In addition, teleradiology enables a continual education. The users geographically distant from one another are in a position to simultaneously observe radiological image while holding a teleconference using the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Teleradiograhy is a most widely used form of telemedicine. Such a method of describing radiological examinations and making diagnosis over a distance started in the 1960s. In that period, as well as in the 1970s, an interactive television transmission was used Bird, 1972. In Serbia, the television transmission was implemented at the Institute for Radiology, the Military Medical Academy (VMA) in Belgrade as early as 1970s. It was in this decade that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) improved and developed modern telemedical procedures as we know them today Charles et all 2009; et al. 2005. During 1980s a computer-based principle of telemedicine was introduced with a digital image format transmission which enabled a commercial development of telemedicine Thrall, 2002. In the beginning, several principles for image digitalization were used and then the image was sent in that respective format. The 1990s witnessed a tremendous improvement in both the computer technology and the networking systems, so the data transmission became less expensive and easier while the image resolution was improved. This is the time when a number of teleradiological systems were established in Serbia, mainly incorporated into telemedical systems and hospital information systems (HIS) of large hospital centres, where telepathology and teleconference systems were increasingly used. Such local hospital networks were designed at the Military Medical Academy, the Institute for Oncology at Sremska Kamenica, the Military Hospital in Nis and at the Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade Putnik et al 2001,5. A real teleradiological boom came in the 2000s with a start of a large number of companies that offer telemedical services and millions of radiologic images are inspected and described from locations far away from the examination site Hagler, 2005. The first functional, commercial, global information network of this kind (Wide Area Network – WAN) in Serbia is our teleradiological network established in 2005.