The diffusion of a medical innovation: where teleradiology is and where it is going

Teleradiology is one of the more successful applications of telemedicine as measured by a bibliometric analysis of teleradiology research publications. The organizational diffusion of innovation framework is helpful in understanding the diffusion of teleradiology. Teleradiology had become part of the practices of two-thirds of radiologists who responded to the American College of Radiology survey in 1999. It is clear that teleradiology has become routinized even though quantitative data are hard to find. Telecardiology may be the next successfully diffused form of telemedicine. The potential cloud on the horizon for telediagnostics is political pressure to avoid outsourcing to foreign countries, particularly those to which US information technology jobs have already been transferred. How the outsourcing issue is resolved will have a significant effect on teleradiology specifically, and, perhaps, telemedicine generally.