Teleradiology Solutions (TS), a leading Bangalore-based radiology report interpreter, has been accredited by the Ministry of Health, Singapore to offer quick reading of scan and x-ray reports of patients admitted in hospitals and clinics in their country. This is for the first time that the Singapore Government has outsourced the service of radiology report readings to any company in the world.

The company has inked a service level agreement with Singapore's National Health Group (NHG), the country's largest health care services provider, to provide teleradiology services across clinics and hospitals in the country. TS will begin its work with ANG MO KIA Poly Clinic and go on to offer the service to NHG's nine polyclinics, four hospitals, one National Centre and three speciality institutes.

According to Dr. Arjun Kalyanpur CEO, Teleradiology Solutions, the agreement with NHG Singapore is a major development in the area of providing expert medical opinion to other parts of Asia, which would help India to establish as a major player in the global telemedicine arena. The three challenges in the imaging market are quality, cost and timely delivery of reports, he added.

During the initial interaction with TS, the National Health Group Diagnostics was impressed with the quality of work, level of accuracy in disseminating the findings and the medico-techno expertise which led them to outsource radiology reading services, informed Dr. Tyrone Goh, general manager, NHG Diagnostics Singapore.

For the five-year old, TS which is also certified by the Joint Commission for Accreditation for Healthcare Organisations (JCAHO), the Singapore business is a rewarding addition to its existing clientele which includes 45 hospitals in the US apart from Indian hospitals like Narayana Hrudayalaya, Columbia Asia Hospital, Raichur Diagnostic Centre and Ashwini Nursing Home in Bijapur, north Karnataka in India for interpretation of all non invasive imaging studies like CT, MRI, ultrasound, nuclear medicine studies and digitised X-rays via teleradiology remote interpretation in addition to sub-speciality consultations in cardio vascular imaging to hospitals in the country.

So far 950 examinations are completed and by March, it is expected to touch 1,500. By the end of 2006, TS is expected to have offered reading of around 30,000 to 40,000 X-ray images.

Since 2003, the company has managed to maintain a steady growth rate of 50 percent. It has a total workforce of 80 employees including 20 radiologists in New Delhi, Mumbai and US. For software development, the company has 7 dedicated information technology experts manning operations. Plans are on the anvil to market the teleradiology software at a later stage.

Regular updates on radiology to keep pace with the global changes through academic sessions, international/national conferences, paper presentation on radiology and workshops on cardiac imaging are made. The company also has an archive of scans which can be retrieved for future use.