TY - JOUR
T1 - Improving the quality of radiology reporting
T2 - A physician survey to define the target
AU - Johnson, Annette
AU - Ying, Jun
AU - Swan, J. Shannon
AU - Williams, Linda S.
AU - Applegate, Kimberly E.
AU - Littenberg, Benjamin
PY - 2004/7
Y1 - 2004/7
N2 - Purpose Our long-term goal is to improve the quality of reports in radiology imaging interpretation. The rationale for this project focused on identifying the characteristics of a high-quality report from the perspective of referring physicians and radiologists. Methods We undertook a survey of physician faculty at a large Midwestern academic medical center (including university, children's, veteran's, county and private practice hospitals) regarding radiology report quality concepts. Results Using a 5-point Likert scale, >95% of respondents indicated the highest importance rating (score=5) for radiology report characteristic "Accurate," with mean score of 4.94. Seventy-eight to 83% of respondents considered "Clear," "Complete" and "Timely" to have the highest importance rating, with means of these scores between 4.73 and 4.79. Somewhat less desirable characteristics included "Well-organized" and "Mentions pertinent negatives" - though radiologists tended to think the latter was less important than did all other categories of physician respondents. The single greatest problem area in reporting is lack of timeliness. Using a 10-point Likert scale, respondents gave a median score of seven for overall satisfaction with current reporting. Conclusions For high-quality radiology reporting, accuracy is most important. Clarity, completeness and timeliness are also very important. Radiologists tend to consider mentioning pertinent negatives as less important than do referring physicians; otherwise, respondents from different specialties largely agreed on which characteristics are most important for high-quality reports. There is room for improvement in physician satisfaction with radiology reporting.
AB - Purpose Our long-term goal is to improve the quality of reports in radiology imaging interpretation. The rationale for this project focused on identifying the characteristics of a high-quality report from the perspective of referring physicians and radiologists. Methods We undertook a survey of physician faculty at a large Midwestern academic medical center (including university, children's, veteran's, county and private practice hospitals) regarding radiology report quality concepts. Results Using a 5-point Likert scale, >95% of respondents indicated the highest importance rating (score=5) for radiology report characteristic "Accurate," with mean score of 4.94. Seventy-eight to 83% of respondents considered "Clear," "Complete" and "Timely" to have the highest importance rating, with means of these scores between 4.73 and 4.79. Somewhat less desirable characteristics included "Well-organized" and "Mentions pertinent negatives" - though radiologists tended to think the latter was less important than did all other categories of physician respondents. The single greatest problem area in reporting is lack of timeliness. Using a 10-point Likert scale, respondents gave a median score of seven for overall satisfaction with current reporting. Conclusions For high-quality radiology reporting, accuracy is most important. Clarity, completeness and timeliness are also very important. Radiologists tend to consider mentioning pertinent negatives as less important than do referring physicians; otherwise, respondents from different specialties largely agreed on which characteristics are most important for high-quality reports. There is room for improvement in physician satisfaction with radiology reporting.
KW - Physician survey
KW - Quality improvement
KW - Radiology reporting
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84928096561&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84928096561&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jacr.2004.02.019
DO - 10.1016/j.jacr.2004.02.019
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84928096561
SN - 1546-1440
VL - 1
SP - 497
EP - 505
JO - Journal of the American College of Radiology
JF - Journal of the American College of Radiology
IS - 7
ER -