This is where a healthcare organisation decides to sub-contract their radiology service, sending some of their diagnostic imaging for reporting outside of their organisation or location, to a third-party provider. Outsourcing can include both teleradiology reporting and sending third-party reporters to a hospital.

Radiologists nearing the end of their careers, those who are leaving the profession due to burnout and a limited number of specialty registrar training posts, are key factors contributing to health systems being short-staffed in the near-term. The RCR census shows there are currently 4,745 WTE consultant radiologists involved in active patient care and a large number are over the age of 55, nearing retirement.

There is a clear requirement for increased training opportunities, and the demand for imaging is outpacing current training levels. The number of radiologists in the workforce is not growing as fast as the population, and the subsequent demand for imaging. 

For example:

• 76% of consultants who left the NHS workforce in 2022 were under 60 years old
• Growth in workforce over the last year has only reached 3%
• Healthcare organisations are currently 1,774 consultants short of meeting the demand for services

Demand for diagnostic imaging reporting is rising faster than the current available clinical workforce can meet via traditional methods. The majority of patients that visit hospital have some form of diagnostic imaging test and a recent report by Sir Mike Richards, which looks at the UK’s radiology situation, identified that further investment is required to deliver positive patient outcomes. As a result, the national target has been set to increase diagnostic imaging activity to 130% of pre-Covid levels by 2025.

The growing gap between the required increase in essential imaging activity and traditional workforce capacity means that new ways of delivering healthcare services are needed. 

Teleradiology is a sustainable solution to increase reporting capacity, by enabling hospitals to send imaging for reporting by high quality clinicians located outside the hospital, and outside normal UK working hours. 

• Increased and flexible capacity – by combining a local hospital reporting team with Medica’s large reporter network and range of services, organisations have the capacity to respond better to demand and clinical urgency. 
• Full 24-hour coverage – Medica enables hospitals to deliver 24/7 emergency reporting including Acute Stroke and Major Trauma, whilst relieving their radiologists from being on-call or assisting when there are staffing challenges.
• Full subspecialty range – with Medica healthcare organisations have access to numerous high-quality radiologists across every specialism, which is not possible or sustainable via standard on-site recruitment.
• Embedded clinical governance – Medica’s services are all audited by default, giving hospitals full peace of mind, and providing excellent evidence for CQC and QSI inspections.

Yes, all of our services are available via various national frameworks, with simple and compliant options for contracting. 

Please get in touch to find out which route is most advantageous for you.

New services can be live in as little as four weeks for a new client or hospital joining us. This is usually around two weeks for an existing hospital user.

Our fee model is ‘pay per use’ and we charge by service, body part and complexity, reflecting the time, effort and specialisation of our high calibre reporters.

Please get in touch to discuss our indicative pricing, or to model up specific pricing based on your requirements.

As we know though, headline cost only tells part of the story and we believe that getting it right first time pays for itself and saves for itself over time – it is the true mark of quality and value.

Our workflows and hybrid service integrations provide opportunities to manage activity in a unique way compared to other teleradiology models.

Yes, our NightHawk service provides fast and accurate emergency reporting throughout the day and night, every day of the year. Our implementation of AI into the emergency reporting workflow won two APM awards in 2021.

Emergency reports are turned around within 30 minutes or 60 minutes (with immediate SIP report for Acute Stroke and Major Trauma).

Our team of radiologists and operational staff work together to cover all Stroke, Trauma, Acute Abdomen, Specialist Neuro, Vascular and general cases.

NightHawk is supported by AI workflows, and is managed through our live, interactive NightHawk portal – giving local hospital staff immediate, real-time access to referral and report status.

We have an extensive range of reporting times available across our services, 24 hours a day throughout the year. 

• NightHawk emergency reporting – 30 minutes and 60 minutes (with immediate SIP report for Acute Stroke and Major Trauma)
• SameDay reporting – within 4 hours 
• Elective reporting – ranging between 48 hours and 7 days, with options for prioritised studies

Our performance against these turnaround times is the best of all providers in the UK, consistently evidenced by direct user feedback of side-by-side services.

Yes, our radiologists are GMC specialist registered and extensively quality assured through our best-in-class governance and audit process.

Our clinical governance and audit process is one of the many reasons why radiologists and hospitals choose us over other teleradiology partners.

Yes, this is key for any organisation looking to outsource reporting. 

Our unique combination of direct RIS, HL7 and portal driven workflows means that reports are provided with full access to prior imaging and history, and hospital staff are freed up to do other tasks.

We’ve established a reputation for unrivalled clinical quality, and this is something we are proud to maintain through our full-time Medical Director and dedicated Clinical Governance team. We work closely with our clients to ensure exceptional image quality and have a system in place for you to raise all critical and urgent findings, ensuring optimal patient safety and outcomes.

Yes, we have integrated Qure.AI’s qER algorithm into our NightHawk emergency reporting service, with excellent operational and clinical results. 

As a result of our relationship, Qure.AI have agreed to offer their algorithms directly to Medica clients for a reduced cost. We can arrange introductions on request.

See more about how we do things differently with Qure.AI here.

Yes, we firmly believe that partnerships in delivery and innovation are key to improving healthcare outcomes.

Our current partnership with Qure.AI is an excellent example of that. Medica has been working with Qure.AI for over a year, integrating their qER algorithm into our NightHawk emergency reporting service, with excellent operational and clinical results.

Our technology platform is fully scalable and GDPR compliant around the world, and we have reporters based in over 20 countries internationally.

Please get in touch to see how we can help if you are based outside of the UK.