Healthcare systems all around the world are increasingly under pressure to provide higher
service quality for the least resources. In Radiology departments, the workforce growth is not
sufficient to catch up on the need for advanced imaging. The NHS is suffering a radiology
staffing crisis, the workforce shortfall is expected to reach 39% by 2026. COVID-19 has
worsened this situation, since people pushed their screenings further, which accumulated and created a backlog, forming long lines for CT and MRI scans. In September 2020, 370 000 people in England alone were waiting for CT or MRI examinations, and of those, 84 000 had been waiting for six weeks or more. This also increases the workload of the already burdened
healthcare staff, leading to high stress levels and burnouts. As a result of an overburdened
system, there has been a 58% increase in outsourcing of medical imaging analysis in the last 2 years; only 1% of NHS Trusts were able to report all scans within radiologists' contracted hours
in 2020.
Unfortunately, this scenario is not expected to get any better if there are no investments in
innovative solutions. With the growing ageing population, the demand for medical imaging willonly increase, and with the ever more technological advances in medical imaging equipment, the complexity and diversity of radiology procedures are also increasing. Therefore, innovative solutions to facilitate the reading of medical imaging are a promising way to solve many of these challenges.
Radiobotics is investing in this area with a focus on developing algorithms for hospitals to
automate reading of x-rays of bone and joints. Radiobotics’ newest product is a fracture
detection product which has shown to help healthcare staff decrease missed fractures on x-rays by almost 50%. Radiobotics products have the potential to unlock significant benefits for the NHS, such as freeing radiologist hours so they can focus on other parts of their job, reducing costly outsourcing of medical image analysis, and making patient triage more consistent. It can therefore lead to lower NHS spending, less backlog of medical imaging, as well as faster and more appropriate patient referral. Read more about Radiobotics products on the website: www.radiobotics.com