Report From Sectra: Radiologists Can Improve Communication With Referring Physicians By Including Images And Dose Information

In a new report from Sectra, 78 referring physicians and 78 radiologists share their views on the process of ordering studies and communicating results.

Radiology lies at the very center of the healthcare chain. Most patients pass through an imaging department at one point or another in their treatment. That said, an organization’s overall effectiveness is highly dependent upon the ability of radiology to provide excellent service to referring physicians. But how is that best done?

The survey shows that increased communication is clearly seen as important by both radiologists and referring physicians. It also indicates that there are several ways of increasing efficiency by improving both how studies are ordered and how results are communicated. The views of referring physicians and radiologists differ somewhat. Referring physicians often see both ordering of studies and communication of reports as a bigger challenge than radiologists.

The responses from radiologists and referring physicians in the 2013 report can be summarized in the following needs:

• Implement decision support to increase the quality of the requests
• Increase transparency with regard to waiting times
• Make reports clearer by including images
• Improve the communication of critical results
• Implement a portal for easier scheduling
• Make radiation dose information visible in both the requests and the report