The RKMH was established in Itanagar in 1979 to tend to the needs of Arunachal Pradesh’s tribal population and receives referral cases from across the state. As a non-profit institution, it was limited by fund and resource availability for many years. Patients visit the RKMH from all over Arunachal Pradesh and often from neighbouring Assam as well. Patients belonging to hill tribes and residing in the mountainous, undeveloped areas of the state find it difficult to wait for the results of scans and diagnostic tests.
Until the RKMH partnered with Telerad Foundation, radiology services there were provided by one full-time and one part-time radiologist, and the hospital operated the only CT scanner in the state. This situation placed extreme limits on the quantity and timeliness of services. The hospital was sometimes compelled to ship a CD containing DICOM images to a Guwahati-based radiologist, receiving the reports by e-mail.
The RKMH was in search of a cost-effective solution that could significantly enhance its ability to provide timely, top-quality radiology services to its many patients. Studying the challenge, Telerad Foundation initially proposed one of the commercially available software applications, but poor Internet connectivity was an issue. Also, though the software proposed was not expensive, RKMH as a non-profit rightfully sought a more economical option.
Telerad Foundation designed a solution that combined Merge Healthcare shareware and FTP. All IT settings were configured remotely from Bengaluru. The system was thoroughly tested to ensure that on-site radiologists and technicians could upload scans and receive reports via e-mail.
Telerad Foundation physicians read an average of 700 CT scans every year for the RKMH, including scans of the head, abdomen, sinus, pelvis, chest, spine and brain.