The Future of Teleradiology

Author: Naoyuki Kitamura, M.D.

President, MNES Inc. & Director, Kasumi Clinic

Diagnostic Radiologist

Editor: Tetsuya Tanimoto, M.D.

I graduated from Hiroshima University School of Medicine in 1993, and I have belonged to the affiliated group of the Department of Radiology at the university. After working in general hospitals, in 2000, I launched a startup company that specializes in teleradiology: MNES Inc. Furthermore, in 2015, I established Kasumi Clinic, which performs various radiological examinations, and I am in charge of both institutions as the president of the company and the director of the clinic. MNES is an acronym for Medical Network Systems, and the company has two major undertakings: one is to provide teleradiological diagnostics for clinical imaging, and the other is to popularize our electronic medical record system called LOOKREC, which works as a platform for cloud computing technology. Regarding doctors among employees, we employ eleven full-time diagnostic radiologists and fourteen part-time diagnostic radiologists, twelve part-time neurosurgeons, and other part-time specialists, including surgeons, internists, and pathologists. More than half of our doctors are female, and they can work from home if necessary, such as when their children get sick. Actually, three female doctors continued to work before and after giving a birth while with our company.

Our clinic is located at Higashi-Shinonome-Honmachi town, South Ward in Hiroshima. We have two 1.5-Tesla MRI scanners and a CT scanner, and the diagnostic imaging center is situated on the third floor of our company’s building. The clinic is on the first and second floor. The number of annual examinations is about 8,000 cases. We receive most of our requests for examinations from Hiroshima University Hospital, which is nearby, and our main business