Canada: concerns over teleradiology outsourcing from patients' point of view
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The availability of cheap outsourcing services for interpreting diagnostic images is putting patients' best interests at risk through blurring the line between business and medicine. So said Normand Laberge, CEO of the Canadian Association of Radiologists at the Canadian Medical Association's National Health Policy and Negotiations Conference recently. Although the service is essential for some regions in Canada that are facing staff shortages, rapid technological developments providing a growing number of effective interventions are pushing up the price of healthcare. As a result, "physicians become driven by business concerns rather than professional responsibilities" and may choose services by their price rather than their quality, he said.