Professional Evaluation of Teleradiology Service Quality and Governance at Federal Medical Centres in North East Nigeria

Teleradiology services are a critical strategy for addressing the severe shortage of radiologists in North East Nigerian federal medical centres, yet the governance frameworks and service quality standards governing these remote reporting arrangements require professional evaluation to ensure patient safety and medicolegal protection for both referring institutions and remote reporting radiologists. This study professionally evaluates the quality and governance of teleradiology services at federal medical centres in Borno, Gombe, and Adamawa States. A professional service evaluation design is applied, combining structured interviews with 18 teleradiology service managers, referring clinicians, and remote reporting radiologists with audit of 150 teleradiology report samples assessed against the Royal College of Radiologists teleradiology standards. Governance dimensions evaluated include service level agreements, report turnaround time compliance, report quality and clinical communication adequacy, liability and indemnity arrangements, image quality standards, and performance monitoring mechanisms. Descriptive statistics and compliance scoring are applied in SPSS. Available teleradiology governance literature from North East Nigeria identifies absence of written service level agreements and variable report turnaround time compliance as the most common governance quality gaps. The RCR Standards for Teleradiology and the ESR Guidelines on Teleradiology Governance provide the professional reference. Findings are expected to reveal adequate report quality for common examinations alongside significant governance documentation and liability management deficiencies. Recommendations address a minimum teleradiology service agreement template, report quality monitoring protocols, and a North East Nigeria regional teleradiology governance framework. Keywords: teleradiology governance, service quality, federal medical centres, North East Nigeria, radiology reporting.