Review of Teleradiology Applications in Some Selected African Countries

Abstract

The role of radiology is central to disease management however, its application is hindered by the low distribution of radiology worldwide with the situation direr in Africa. Information and communication technology (ICT) methods have been used to s healthcare systems and lessen the negative after-effects of widespread unavailability of high-quality radiological services. Telemedicine, specifically teleradiology was identified as a prime mitigator resulting in increased access to quality radiological services and effective diagnostic reporting thus contributing to achieving universal health coverage. Around the world, teleradiology adoption and implementation has seen significant boost and healthcare benefits but in Africa, the situation is reversed. Africa’s low adoption can be linked to policymakers not having adequate evidence-based data to inform decisions and policies on teleradiology implementation. In this study, we review the implementation of teleradiology in five (5) African countries: South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, and Ghana. Articles were searched on Databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect using defined search strings. Sixty papers were initially downloaded, but only those meeting the inclusion criteria were retained after the titles and abstracts were reviewed. Nineteen articles were found suitable for the study after careful assessment. All of these were summed up, and the study’s most important takeaways were plotted. Few studies met our inclusion criteria, indicating that teleradiology is not widely used in the nations we looked at. As a result, it is necessary to conduct extensive investigations to direct the widespread implementation of teleradiology in Africa. The findings show that teleradiology is been implemented in these countries however, there exists the challenge of lack of technology, policies, human sources, and training that are hindering teleradiology practices. Therefore, it recommended that various governments and scholars should address the challenges facing teleradiology and examine the limitations identified in this study.

Medicina en la era digital: alcances y perspectivas

“…El desarrollo de redes de teleradiología está impulsado por la necesidad de proporcionar atención radiológica especializada en áreas remotas y satisfacer las crecientes expectativas económicas (Goelz et al, 2021). La teleradiología implica la transmisión de imágenes radiológicas con el propósito de compartir información del paciente con otros médicos y radiólogos, contribuyendo así a mejorar los informes diagnósticos y la cobertura universal de salud (Habib et al, 2021;Nortey, 2023).…”

“…La teleradiología desempeña un papel crucial en la atención médica moderna, especialmente en entornos de atención primaria, al permitir la interpretación remota de imágenes médicas como rayos X, resonancias magnéticas y tomografías computarizadas. Esta tecnología ha sido fundamental para mejorar el acceso a los servicios radiológicos, especialmente en áreas desatendidas y remotas, y ha facilitado diagnósticos oportunos y precisos, mejorando en última instancia los resultados para los pacientes (Nortey, 2023;Chow et al, 2023). La implementación de redes de teleradiología se ha asociado con la reducción de traslados de pacientes y un aumento de la rentabilidad, destacando su potencial para agilizar la prestación de servicios de salud y la utilización de recursos (Goelz et al, 2021).…”

“…Los problemas de privacidad y seguridad de los datos también han sido reconocidos como desafíos críticos en la teleradiología (Nortey, 2023).…”

“…Sin embargo, es importante considerar las desventajas asociadas con la teleradiología. Un desafío significativo es la falta de tecnología, políticas, recursos humanos y capacitación, particularmente en ciertas regiones, lo que dificulta la implementación efectiva de las prácticas de teleradiología (Nortey, 2023).…”