Top Trends Shaping the Future of Radiology Reports

1. Top Trends Shaping the Future of Radiology Reports Research in the field of radiology reporting is focused on improving quality with structured templates, interactive multimedia, and more. www.medicaltranscriptionservicecompany.com 918-221-7809 Medical Transcription Services United States

2. Radiology reports are an integral part of the patient's medical record. Experienced radiology transcription service providers ensure that every report they transcribe is thoroughly proofread before delivery. This is crucial to prevent errors in interpretation, communication, and reporting, issues which can expose radiology practices to risks of malpractice litigation. The latest research is focused on improving the quality of radiology reports with structured reporting, interactive multimedia, and more. Let’s take a look at the top trends shaping the future of radiology reporting. • Use of study-specific disease templates: Radiology Business recently reported on a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology which found that disease-specific disease templates could help radiologists provide clinicians with better information. Researchers from the department of radiology at the University of Chicago developed a disease-specific pulmonary embolism (PE) chest CT angiography (CTA) reporting template in order to determine: If utilization rates of chest CTA for detection of PE were appropriate o If the study-specific template decreased variation in PE reporting o The team found that the disease-specific reporting template did produce better and more complete studies, and also improved image quality. CT PE reports were generated in a standard structured CT template prior to the creation of the new template. The researchers evaluated the effectiveness of the new disease-specific template by comparing data from before and following the implementation. They report that after the new template was introduced, more than 96 percent of chest CTA examinations for suspected PE were complete, while before implementation more than 69 percent of chest CTA examinations for suspected PE were deemed “complete.” The authors pointed out that each field of the template acts as a reminder to test a certain imaging finding or to include a relevant measurement. “Structured templates are particularly powerful in enacting change if they load automatically rather than requiring a radiologist to select the correct and desirable template from a list,” they concluded. In an interview to Carestream in 2016, Dr. Luis Martí-Bonmatí of the Royal Academy of Medicine noted that structured reports with necessary images and relevant information, and www.medicaltranscriptionservicecompany.com 918-221-7809

3. through proper communication (including distribution graphs, histograms and references) are the best way to ensure a complete radiological study and to prevent serious or disabling diseases, predict courses evolution, customize specific treatments, and participate in relevant clinical decision making. As referring physicians also prefer structured formats, experts predict that there will be an upsurge in reporting over the next few years. • Incorporation of interactive multimedia in radiology reports: Multimedia is touted to be the future of radiology reporting. According to a recent Radiology Business article, interactive media could “elevate radiology reports from ‘archiac’ to innovative”. The article is based on a study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology which noted that most practices are opting against integrating multimedia into radiology reports in favor of simpler methods like plain text prose. The authors point out that content like images, graphs, tables and hyperlinks, as well as customizations like font type and color would have many benefits: It can add functionality to traditional reporting o It can make the report more visually appealing to the interpreters as well as o the patients who have access to them Embedding images in the report can improve communication and save time o for the faculty radiologist It can improve the quality of care o Multimedia-enhanced radiology reporting also provides physicians and radiologists with more history related to the patient Improved context related to patient history. This allows them to get a better understanding of the patient’s health, which may help with diagnosis. Images, lesion measurements, graphs, charts provide easier access to necessary information. Physicians can access an image splice via a hyperlinked description within the text of the report. Multimedia also improves communication between patients and physicians. Patients can be shown their medical images, as well as associated measurements. A study conducted by Emory University School of Medicine found that using multimedia reporting would help the radiologist’s department or clinic receive more patient referrals. www.medicaltranscriptionservicecompany.com 918-221-7809

4. While there could be technical hurdles to overcome, the researchers say that multimedia reporting in radiology can be done efficiently and effectively. “To create interactive multimedia reports in an efficient manner, there needs to be seamless integration between the image data and the reporting application,” the authors wrote. “A natural way to accomplish this is for reporting functionality to be embedded into the PACS.” • Improving patients’ understanding of radiology reports: Another new study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology, stressed the importance of finding ways to help patients understand their radiology reports. Today, providing patients access to their radiology records in increasing transparency in the field. However, the study notes that laypeople’s lack of health literacy is compromising the success of such an idea. Intended for those with a medical background, radiology reports continue to contain jargon and technical terminology which make them uninterpretable by patients who access them through patient portals. The researchers note that providing patients with mere access does not make portals patient-centered. Issues of patient readability and comprehension, appraisal and application need to be addressed. However, the authors caution that initiatives to improve the readability levels of radiology reports could have unintended consequences as radiologists, referring physicians and insurers typically require “nuanced granularity” for comparing images, to make clinical decisions, and provide insurance coverage. They recommend the use of multimedia-enhanced reporting strategies such as linking technical terms and diagrams in online text and or adding a text module to radiology reports describing findings and outcomes in simpler terms, to improve patients’ understanding of their radiology reports. “In our opinion, to become truly patient-centered, radiologists must move beyond traditional ‘business-as-usual’ report generation and find new ways to help patients access, comprehend, appraise and apply the valuable information contained within our reports. Radiologists can and must do better,” the authors wrote. www.medicaltranscriptionservicecompany.com 918-221-7809

5. These are the major trends that will redefine radiology reports in the years to come. When it comes to generating error-free reports in fast turnaround time, outsourcing radiology transcription is a practical option. Turnaround time (TAT) impacts imaging studies collected in the emergency department (ED), as well as inpatient or outpatient settings. Relying on an experienced medical transcription company that specializes in radiology documentation can minimize TAT. www.medicaltranscriptionservicecompany.com 918-221-7809