"…Wipro, one of India’s leading technology companies, has made the arrangement possible by building a telecommunications system that allows several gigabytes of data to be sent between Mass General and Bangalore every day.
Unlike other outsourcing ventures, the primary goal isn’t to save money, but to alleviate stress on Mass General’s radiology staff, particularly during night shifts…"
I can find numerous links. Sometimes, they need to save money…sometimes it’s convenience…but it is outsourced.
*search terms
“teleradiology”
“outsuorcing radiology”*
Our folks have seen this first hand in Mumbai and Bangalore.
"…But the arrangement, made late last year with a company in India, has touched off a minor furor. It turns out that even American radiologists, with their years of training and annual salaries of $250,000 or more, worry about their jobs moving to countries with lower wages, in much the same way that garment knitters, blast-furnace operators and data-entry clerks do.
Since the news got out, Dr. Saini has received a flurry of angry e-mail messages, most of them anonymous, urging him to stop. The American College of Radiology, the professional group for the country’s 30,000 radiologists, has set up a task force to look at the offshore transfer of radiology services. And the online discussion groups of AuntMinnie.com, a Web site for radiologists, have been buzzing with debate about the prospects for competition from “radiology sweatshops” abroad.
“This teleradiology thing is another nail in the coffin of the job market,” wrote someone on the Web site who identified himself as a radiologist. “Who needs to pay us $350,000/yr if they can get a cheap Indian radiologist for $25,000/yr.” Don’t show that to your doc friend, he might have to get nervous like the rest of the common folk.
“Indian radiologists are downloading CT scans done at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, analyzing them, and sending back three-dimensional computer models highlighting problem areas - though not providing official diagnoses.”
and
“The Indian radiologists are doing the work of US medical technicians and earning comparable pay, though their education and training is more like that of American doctors”
and
“Eventually, Dr. Saini hopes to bring Indians to the US to gain medical licenses so they can return to India and offer full patient care services, albeit remotely.”
So my original point still stands - since they are not licensed/board certified in the US, they cannot provide an actual diagnosis - they point things out to the US doctors who perform the actual diagnosis. Of course it may turn into a USA doctor simply signing off on a “recommended” diagnosis from an Indian doctor, but then he’d be putting his license on the line.
What are you kidding? Seriously, you trying win a damn debate?
Radiology is outsourced.
Radiologists fear loss of jobs to Indians.
Okay…they’re doing SOMETHING over there, as you might want to split hairs about what that is, but it’s outsourced and has been cited.
Not trying to win a debate, though your dig about my relative “getting nervous like the rest of the common folk” was a little annoying. I just pointed out that he is a radiologist, he’s involved in hospital and practice administration, he doesn’t think overseas outsourcing will be a big deal, and he isn’t nervous.
BTW, here’s a link to an article about the Indian company that provides the services.
muldoonthief, your relative was clueless about teleradiology, yet he isn’t nervous. No, I guesss he couldn’t be nervous when he doesn’t know about it.
As for my comment that annoyed you, that should not distract from the fact that teleradiology has many radiologists fearing for their jobs. And I see hair splitting because while a Doc here makes the actual formal diagnosis of record, it seems to be a techinicality to cover thier asses legally, when the essence of what is going on is that images are being reviewed and studied somewhere else, not here by radiologists. Radioloigists, as noted in the NY Times piece, see it as a threat.
It exists. It surpises many. It surprises radiologists. It’s been cited.
My dig about doctors having to worry like common folk is based on my experiences and reflects on things that I have seen and heard. It serves to highlite the fact that we all can be humbled real damn fast.
I deal with managing outsourcing, so it comes up alot in my daily life and convos. There exists a thorough ignorance from many highly skilled people. Those who sweat the most are clerks, yet CPAs, lawyers, paralegal, physicians and radiologists should all be nervous.
Go to this page, go to the second piece mentioning “Exporting America” and follow the link to the list. It’s not exactly what you’re looking for, since it isn’t limited to call centers. But if you’re dedicated you can go through the list and cross out all the manufacturers and what not. I’m not sure exactly what standard good ol’ Lou is using, but it’s a start, at least.
Philster, you’re right, I asked for a cite, you gave me one.
I started to write a bunch of other stuff, but it’s wildly off-topic here. You can email me if you’re interested in what my relative had to say on this topic (I just got an email back from him). He’s not clueless about teleradiology BTW - it’s been extensively used in the US for several years.
My company (and no, I’m not going to tell you what company :rolleyes: ) is opening a call center in India in the very near future. It’s been an interesting process, I must say. We have pretty high standards for customer service, and communication problems due to language barriers will definitely be unacceptable for us. (Let’s just say there are considerable liability issues-we’re not selling CDs …) I’ve mostly been involved in the planning for the call volume split, but I’ve worked closely with a colleague who’s dealing with personnel issues, and it’s not easy. The job market for Indians fluent in English is starting to fill up, and I’m pretty sure that wages for those workers are going to be increasing-supply and demand. Executive management has started asking me for call volume estimates based on more restrictive conditions-I think they’re having problems setting up the staffing levels they want …
I know plenty of Indians who are “fluent” in English. In fact, they probably speak better English than most of us. But that doesn’t make it any easier to navigate the accent. That is really the issue.
Hey, let me know if I blow you cover by saying that Experian is outsourcing calls to India (they will be the last major credit bureau to do so).
GOOD LUCK! I feel your pain! (read between the lines, cause I don’t want to say where I work!)
Kalhoun: I have no doubt that lots of Indians speak great English. But how many of those are otherwise unskilled to the point of working in a call center at $3 an hour? (Or whatever we’d pay that still makes it economical to operate a facility on the other side of the globe.) I’m quite sure an accent wouldn’t be a big issue-a fair number of our ‘specialists’ have noticeable accents …
Philster: No, I don’t work for Experian. We’re in a medical field …