The future progress of teleradiology-an empirical study in Sweden

This paper describes a novel teleradiology solution, its services and graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and the strategic decisions taken in the development of the services. The novel services are embedded in a radiology information infrastructure in Västra Götalandsregionen (VGR), Sweden. The application is fully integrated with all different RIS and PACS systems in the region and interconnected through the radiology information infrastructure. In practice, the solution offers new ways of collaborating through information sharing within a region. Knowledge can be used collectively to improve the radiology workflow and its outcomes for clinicians and patients. The new shared approach marks the beginning of a change from local to enterprise workflow. The challenges are to develop useful and secure services for different groups related to the radiological information infrastructure. It involves continuous negotiation with people concerning how they should collaborate within the region. The need for teleradiology as a service provided "by somebody" has disappeared in VGR; today it is a shared service embedded in the innovative radiology information infrastructure. This infrastructure is just a starting point for a novel and limitless telemedicine service including limitless healthcare actors and activities. The method applied for this study was action research. The study was carried out in collaboration between practitioners and researchers.