Radiology staffing shortages increasing demand for AI and cloud

Key trends and challenges in radiology

Sant said cost management and staffing issues continue to be the most significant concerns for radiology providers. The burnout of staff, particularly after the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to increased turnover in the industry. Radiologists are exploring opportunities beyond traditional roles, contributing to a shortage in skilled professionals. Medical school also are not graduating enough radiologists to replace those who are retiring or leaving clinical practice.

"The radiologist shortage has created a big challenge for many of our customers. They're finding it hard to retain or hire staff and are looking for vendors like us to drive solutions for them. So we are looking at it from two perspectives. One is technology and infrastructure, and a big drive towards cloud," Sant explained.

Transition of enterprise imaging systems in the cloud

One prominent solution discussed with customers is the transition to cloud-based systems, rather than hosting all data and software on premise, resulting in hospital IT teams spending time and resources managing large servers. While the cloud has been available for over a decade, there has been apprehension among healthcare providers regarding data security and the management of patient information off-site. 

Sant acknowledged these concerns and emphasized a modular approach while supporting customers in transitioning to the cloud at a pace comfortable for them. He said few providers want to completely transition everything to the cloud, so they usually start out with options such as image archiving and cloud-based workflow orchestration for DICOM reading lists.

"We are seeing that apprehension play out over and over again. Customers know that cloud is going to be an answer to many of their challenges. Staffing being one, IT cost being another, security of their own data centers being an important element to that. We have customers on one end that are just dipping their toe in the water, so to speak. Some of them are looking at cloud as a place for their contingency and downtime processes rather than standing up another system in their data center for the downtime procedures," Sant explained. 

The COVID pandemic has played a role in reshaping perceptions around cloud adoption. Sant noted that the pandemic has prompted healthcare providers to reconsider the advantages of the cloud, such as accessibility from anywhere and reduced dependence on on-premises infrastructure. The shift is seen as a strategic move to alleviate IT costs and enhance overall operational efficiency, he said.

AI integration into radiology workflow

Another key aspect discussed in the interview is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the radiology workflow. While AI solutions have been evolving, the challenge lies in seamlessly embedding them into the existing workflow of radiologists. 

"There are continuing to evolve multiple AI solutions in the market, but they don't quite fit readily into the radiologist workflow quite yet. And while there's a desire to leverage these technologies where applicable, nobody is really solving that last mile problem of embedding it appropriately in the radiologist's workflow," Sant said.

He added that Merge is actively working on an AI orchestration layer that integrates AI solutions behind the scenes, seamlessly into the enterprise imaging system workflow.

Partnership with Microsoft Azure cloud

As the industry moves towards cloud solutions, Sant highlighted Merge's partnership with Microsoft. This collaboration allows customers to leverage their existing commitments to Microsoft Azure Cloud through their Merge solutions.