Evaluation of Current and Former Teleradiology Systems in Africa: A Review

Abstract

Background: Teleradiology has grown tremendously across the globe, providing significant benefits to both patients and physicians. In the late 1990s, South Africa sought to lead teleradiology adoption efforts by creating a national telemedicine system through a structured and phased approach. Although initial reports of the system's effectiveness were encouraging, the present status of this project, as well as comparable efforts in surrounding developing countries, has remained uncertain.Objective: To explore the status of teleradiology adoption in Africa, identify existing barriers to adoption, and explore potential solutions to the most commonly identified barriers.Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted to find articles that discussed current and past teleradiology systems in Africa. Each item was evaluated for relevance separately based on specified inclusion and exclusion criteria and was used to field further articles if relevant to the topic, even if not found in the initial search. The search began with articles published after January 1995 and included articles through December 2021.Findings: Although teleradiology systems in Africa has shown to have a benefit in improving patient outcomes, current implementation remains limited due to feasibility projects with no singular picture archiving and communication system (PACS) being utilized at the time of writing. Conclusions:Although teleradiology has significant potential and can benefit the developing countries in Africa, further expansion, in terms of both complexity and adoption rates, remains hindered by infrastructure development, clinician and technologist support, and general sociopolitical factors.

Review of Teleradiology Applications in Some Selected African Countries

“…There is a paucity of training on the application and benefits of teleradiology for the parties engaged in Kenya, Ghana, and Egypt, [13], [17], [20]. In addition, it was found that none of the countries that had introduced teleradiology had enough in-service training for its medical professionals.…”

“…The use of articles from diverse countries makes this paper unique from other publications such as that of Tahir et al, who only focused on Nigeria. Furthermore, this study fills the gap of Ewing & Holmes, who used only six articles from six African countries to make conclusions on the experiences of teleradiology in Africa, [13]. Moreover, these article reviews have not focused holistically on the various teleradiology modalities used by these countries and the successes or failures encountered during the implementation and use of teleradiology in these African countries.…”

Challenges in the diagnosis and management of IBD: a sub-Saharan African perspective

“…76 The benefits of teleradiology, have been well-described in the literature and teleradiology has been shown to be beneficial for both patients and physicians. 76 A successful teleradiology programme will enable underserved communities to access investigations without the need to travel long distances and is a valuable tool to lessen workforce shortages in Low Middle Income Countries. Data on teleradiology in SSA are sparse but what little are available suggest that it is not yet employed to its full capacity.…”

“…Teleradiology is another potential modality to strengthen digital imaging in SSA. 76 The benefits of teleradiology, have been well-described in the literature and teleradiology has been shown to be beneficial for both patients and physicians. 76 A successful teleradiology programme will enable underserved communities to access investigations without the need to travel long distances and is a The need to improve pathology services in SSA has also long been recognized.…”

“…Data on teleradiology in SSA are sparse but what little are available suggest that it is not yet employed to its full capacity. 76…”