AstraRad reads screening and diagnostic mammograms remotely through board-certified, fellowship-trained breast imaging subspecialists who meet the FDA's MQSA requirements for interpreting physicians and are licensed in the state where your patients are located. Screening mammograms return in under 24 hours on the Routine tier, diagnostic studies in under 4 hours on the Urgent tier, and STAT reads in under 1 hour with a median turnaround of 28 minutes. Pricing is per report, with no minimums, no subscriptions, and no platform fees, and we held 99.4% SLA compliance across the trailing 12 months.
Telemammography is not a workaround. It is how a growing share of US screening programs get subspecialist-level breast interpretation without recruiting a fellowship-trained breast imager into every market. This page covers the regulatory footing, the turnaround tiers, the modalities we read, and how a batch screening workflow actually plugs into your center.
Is remote mammography reading MQSA compliant?
Yes, when it is done correctly. The Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA), administered by the FDA, governs every facility in the United States that performs mammography. MQSA certifies the facility and sets qualification standards for the interpreting physician. It does not require the interpreting physician to sit inside the facility. What it requires is that whoever signs the report meets the MQSA interpreting physician standards: initial qualifications, continuing experience measured in mammograms read, and continuing education in breast imaging.
AstraRad's model is built around that requirement. Mammography on our platform is never load-balanced across generalists. It routes only to the breast imaging subspecialists on our panel of 240 board-certified, fellowship-trained radiologists, each of whom meets MQSA interpreting physician requirements and holds a license in the state where your patients are located. Your facility keeps its MQSA certificate and its accreditation body relationship; we supply the qualified interpreting physicians and the signed final reports.
Two more compliance facts that matter to an imaging center director evaluating a remote reading partner:
- Every study moves under HIPAA-compliant, encrypted transfer, and the platform is GDPR compliant and DICOM conformant. Reports deliver back over HL7 or FHIR, or through the portal. Details are on our compliance page.
- Quality is audited continuously: 1 in 20 reports is independently double-read, and our major discrepancy rate is under 0.3%. For breast imaging, where a missed finding carries real consequence, that audit trail is part of the product, not an add-on.
How fast are screening and diagnostic mammogram reads?
Screening and diagnostic mammography have different clinical clocks, so they run on different SLA tiers. Screening volume is predictable and batchable; a sub-24-hour turnaround supports next-day result letters and keeps your BI-RADS reporting cycle tight. Diagnostic workups are different: the patient was called back, she is anxious, and the answer should come the same day.
| Study | Tier | Turnaround commitment | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screening mammogram (2D or 3D) | Routine | Under 24 hours | Daily screening batches, result letters next day |
| Diagnostic mammogram | Urgent | Under 4 hours | Callback workups resolved within the visit day |
| Diagnostic with patient waiting | STAT | Under 1 hour, median 28 minutes | Same-visit answer before the patient leaves |
| Breast ultrasound | Urgent or Routine | Under 4 or under 24 hours | Paired with diagnostic mammography |
| Breast MRI | Routine or Urgent | Under 24 or under 4 hours | High-risk screening, extent of disease |
These are the same three tiers that govern everything we read, and the same 99.4% trailing-12-month compliance figure applies. The full commitment structure, including how we measure the clock, is on the SLA page.
Do you read 3D tomosynthesis and breast MRI?
Yes to both, and everything between. Coverage spans the full breast imaging line:
- 2D full-field digital mammography, screening and diagnostic
- 3D digital breast tomosynthesis, including synthesized 2D views
- Breast ultrasound, screening and targeted diagnostic
- Breast MRI for high-risk screening, problem solving, and extent of disease
Tomosynthesis is now the default acquisition at most US screening programs, and it changes the reading economics: more images per study, longer interpretation time, and a stronger argument for routing to a subspecialist who reads breast all day rather than a generalist who reads it between CTs. Our tomosynthesis reads follow the same tiers and the same per-report pricing structure as 2D, with each study type carrying its own printed line on the rate card.
Breast MRI reads are handled by the same breast subspecialty group. If your center also sends non-breast MRI, that volume runs through the same platform; see MRI teleradiology.
How does batch screening integrate with your center?
There is no integration project. Studies reach us one of two ways: DICOM routed directly from your PACS, or portal upload for centers that prefer not to touch their PACS configuration at all. Most screening programs set up a daily DICOM auto-route of the day's screening batch, attach priors, and receive signed reports back over HL7 or FHIR into their RIS, ready for result letters.
Priors matter in mammography more than in any other modality, so the workflow assumes them. Send prior-year exams alongside the current study and the interpreting subspecialist compares them as part of the read, which is what keeps callback rates honest.
Capacity is the other half of workflow. We read 600,000 studies a year across 12 time zones with 24/7/365 coverage, and we currently carry headroom for 25,000 additional studies per month. If you are switching providers or standing up a new screening program with accumulated volume, an 8,000-study backlog clears in under 30 days. Send one screening batch a week or four hundred studies a day; the tiers and the rate card do not change. If you are new to remote reading generally, start with what teleradiology is and how it works.
What does a remote mammogram read cost?
AstraRad prices per report. No minimums, no subscriptions, no platform fees, and the priority multiplier for Urgent and STAT tiers is printed on the rate card rather than quoted case by case. Screening mammography, diagnostic mammography, tomosynthesis, breast ultrasound, and breast MRI each have their own line, so a screening-heavy center is never subsidizing modalities it does not send.
For market context: published industry-typical rates for remote screening mammogram interpretation have generally sat in the range of roughly $25 to $40 per study, with diagnostic and tomosynthesis reads priced above that. Those are industry figures, not AstraRad's; our rates are on the card. Request it through /contact and you will have it within one business day, or see how per-report pricing works on the pricing page. For a fuller breakdown of what drives teleradiology pricing across modalities, read the teleradiology cost guide.
Who is telemammography for?
Three groups, in practice:
- Imaging center directors whose screening volume outgrew their local reader, or whose breast imager is retiring and the recruiting pipeline is empty. Remote subspecialty reads keep the program running without a hire.
- Radiology group leads who want to keep the facility contract but offload screening batches so their on-site radiologists concentrate on procedures and diagnostic workups.
- Hospital administrators covering multiple sites where breast imaging volume at any single site cannot justify a dedicated breast imager, but the system total easily justifies subspecialty reads.
In every case the mechanics are the same: MQSA-qualified breast subspecialists, state-appropriate licensure, tiered turnaround with a published compliance record, and a per-report rate card in your inbox within one business day. Start at /contact.