The verdict in three sentences
A teleradiology second-opinion MVP takes 10 to 14 weeks to build and typically costs $60,000 to $140,000 with a nearshore or Western European team in 2026, as long as version one is limited to a single flow: the GP uploads the study, the radiologist returns a signed report. Budgets rarely slip on the interface; they slip on the DICOM image pipeline, encryption and the audit trail hospitals demand. Planning 3 successive releases and monthly running costs of $1,500 to $4,500 keeps you from trying to ship everything on day one.
The minimum scope of a credible MVP
A radiology group that wants to receive second-opinion requests from GPs does not need a full PACS. It needs a reliable, auditable circuit that is simple for the referring doctor, who will not install heavy software.
| MVP component | Expected content | Estimated effort (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts and roles | GP, radiologist, admin, two-factor authentication | 8 to 12 days |
| Study upload | DICOM or ZIP upload from the browser, partial de-identification | 12 to 18 days |
| Viewer | Integrated open-source web DICOM viewer (zoom, windowing, measurements) | 10 to 15 days |
| Opinion and report | Structured form, e-signature, time-stamped PDF export | 8 to 12 days |
| Audit trail | Immutable log of who viewed what and when | 5 to 8 days |
| Notifications | Email and SMS to the referring doctor when the report is ready | 3 to 5 days |
| Simple billing | Per-opinion pricing, monthly statement per referrer | 5 to 8 days |
That is 51 to 78 development days, plus design, QA and project management. At blended day rates of $700 to $1,200, you land in the $60,000 to $140,000 range. For reference, the same scope costs 120,000 to 250,000 TND with a local team in Tunis.
The constraints that move the budget
Healthcare adds requirements absent from a standard B2B app. DICOM files are heavy: a chest CT weighs 150 to 500 MB, an MRI can exceed 1 GB. Data must be encrypted at rest and in transit, and hosting must meet the rules where patients live: HIPAA and a signed BAA in the US, GDPR and often HDS-certified hosting for French patients, local data protection authorities elsewhere.
| Constraint | Budget option | What hospitals require | Estimated extra cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image storage | Standard object storage | Encrypted storage with managed keys and defined retention | 10 to 20% |
| Hosting | Generic cloud server | Healthcare-compliant region or certified host | $500 to $1,500 per month |
| Authentication | Password | Mandatory two-factor | 3 to 5 days |
| Audit trail | Application logs | Tamper-proof, exportable audit log | 5 to 8 days |
| Backups | Daily | Daily, encrypted, tested monthly, off-site | $200 to $500 per month |
| Upload bandwidth | Direct upload | Chunked upload with resume after network drops | 4 to 6 days |
The last item matters for rural clinics: a 400 MB upload that fails at 90% discourages a GP in the first week.
A roadmap in 3 releases
Release 1 (10 to 14 weeks) covers request, reading and signed opinion, with manual billing. Release 2 (8 to 10 weeks, $30,000 to $60,000) adds connections to partner hospitals' PACS, automated billing and turnaround dashboards. Release 3 (depending on traction) brings triage support for urgent studies, a mobile app and expansion to other specialties such as dermatology or cardiology.
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Running costs are $1,500 to $4,500 a month: hosting and storage, backups, SMS, monitoring and corrective maintenance. The same API principles apply if you plan to connect to hospital software, as explained in our article on building a public API for a SaaS vendor.
Mini case study
Dr Ben Salah, partner in a group of 6 radiologists, targets 40 referring GPs. Assumption: each GP sends 12 requests a month, so 480 opinions billed at $20, or $9,600 in monthly revenue. The group pays 40% to reading radiologists ($3,840) and $2,000 in running costs. Monthly margin: $3,760.
With a $60,000 MVP, payback comes in about 16 months (60,000 divided by 3,760). If adoption stalls at 20 GPs, margin drops to $880 a month (240 opinions, $4,800 revenue, minus $1,920 to readers and $2,000 running costs) and payback exceeds 5 years. The group therefore made release 2 conditional on 25 active GPs by month six.
FAQ
Should we build our own DICOM viewer? No. Mature open-source web viewers exist and integrate in 10 to 15 days. Building your own would take months with no benefit for an MVP.
Where should study images be hosted? In a region and with a provider that match patients' jurisdiction: HIPAA-eligible services with a BAA in the US, HDS-certified hosting for French patients. Expect $500 to $1,500 a month for compliant hosting at MVP scale.
How long must reports and images be kept? It depends on the agreements with facilities and on medical record rules, often 10 years or more for reports. Images can follow a shorter policy, to be validated with legal counsel.
Can we launch without a mobile app? Yes. A responsive web app is enough for release 1 and saves 30 to 40% in cost. Native mobile makes sense in release 3 once volume justifies it.
What turnaround should we promise GPs? A 24-hour commitment for standard requests and 2 hours for urgent ones is common. The platform must measure turnaround from release 1 to keep that promise.
Let's scope your project. Tell us about your opinion workflow, image volumes and hosting constraints, and we will scope a 3-release MVP with its timeline. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
