STRUCTURED REPORTING IN RADIOLOGY. ARE WE READY TO IMPLEMENT IT?

Abstract

ABSTRACT:

Objective:

The purpose of article is to provide a brief overview of structured radiology reporting and to emphasize the anticipated benefits from a new generation of standardized radiology reports. We will review the advantages and disadvantages of structured radiology reports and discuss the current prevailing sentiments among radiologists regarding structured reports. We will also discuss the obstacles to the use of structured reports and highlight ways to overcome some of those challenges. The future directions in radiology reporting in the era of personalized medicine will also be discussed.

Background:

 Radiology reports are important for patient care as referring physicians rely upon them for deciding appropriate patient management. Traditional narrative reports are associated with excessive variability in the language, length, and style, which can minimize report clarity and make it difficult for referring clinicians to identify key information needed for patient care. The benefits of structured reporting have received considerable attention in radiology. For example, structured reporting may reduce the incidence of errors in reporting and communication. It also may make it easier for referring health professionals, billing and coding specialists, medico legal representatives, and researchers to extract and compare information from radiologic reports. Furthermore, it may help to reduce ambiguity and misunderstanding by encouraging the use of a standard lexicon in reporting. The Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System(BIRADS) is an example of successful structured reporting currently in use.

Conclusion:

Structured reporting usage has been advocated as a new standard for radiology reports. It is seen as a potential solution for improving the quality of radiology reports. However personal and technical changes are required for the implementation of reporting templates. Radiology should face these challenges in its leading role with the joint consensus and the application of modern IT-based solutions.