What do radiographers think about teleradiology in Japan?

Abstract

In order to understand radiographers' views of teleradiology, we sent questionnaires to all radiographers in Hokkaido, Japan. Questions concerned the understanding of, interest in, need for and problems related to teleradiology. A total of 1275 radiographers responded to the survey (a response rate of 65%). Almost all had heard about teleradiology and about 60% of them were interested in it. However, fewer radiographers working in the central region than in other regions expected to be involved in teleradiology. If teleradiology were to be introduced, 60% of the respondents thought that it should be used for interpreting difficult cases and 30% for emergency cases. Half thought that the system should be managed and operated by the radiographer. Thirty-seven per cent of radiographers expected that there would be problems concerning the management of the system within one facility and between facilities, and 34% predicted problems with the installation costs.