Is it time for radiologists to head back to the reading room? New data reveal trends in remote radiology
Three years after the height of COVID forced a global transition to remote work, many professionals are now being called back into the office, including radiologists.
A new paper in the Journal of the American College of Radiology that details recent trends in both remote and in-person radiology settings indicates that teleradiology is likely here to stay—at least for some. Based on survey responses from 345 members of the American College of Radiology, academic radiologists are disproportionately being asked to return to the reading room in comparison to their peers.
Prior to COVID, just over half of those surveyed reported that their organization enabled providers to read remotely (53%); that figure increased to 91% during the pandemic. In non-academic settings, 60% of respondents had their remote workstations set up before COVID, while 61% of radiologists working in academics had their set up during the pandemic.
Non-academic readers tend to take on more remote interpretations, with 32% of them reporting that 75% of their reads are done remotely; that is the case for just 18% of academic radiologists, according to the data.
In terms of returning to work sites, 27% of academic radiologists noted that they are expected to now return to on-site shifts, while just 8% of non-academic providers reported on-site requests. Of those in academics, 65% do intend to continue reading remotely, but that figure still falls short of the 82% in non-academic settings that have plans to remain remote.
While there are both benefits and drawbacks to remote work, the imbalance between academic and non-academic radiologists working in remote settings observed in this study could have ramifications for the future workforce, authors of the JACR paper suggested.
“Since academic departments are more likely to have radiologists return to on-site work, the degree of remote reading could become a factor that recently-trained radiologists consider when deciding between pursuing an academic versus a private practice career,” corresponding author Easton Neitzel, MS, with the Department of Radiology and Department of Student Affairs at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix, and colleagues noted. “According to a recent nationwide poll, millennials are more likely than any other generation to desire a remote work option, with 84% rating remote work as important.”
Remote reading is likely here to stay, the survey data suggest, with 84% of those who had read remotely before indicating that remote shifts will likely be a permanent staple in their department post-COVID, at least in some capacity. This was the case in both academic and non-academic settings and is something that organizations will need to consider in the future as they recruit new talent, the authors noted.
The group called for academic departments to find balance between on-site and remote shifts, as ruling out options to work from home would likely deter some emerging radiologists from pursuing a career in academics.
The study abstract is available here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.