Radiology by nonradiologists: is report documentation adequate?
OBJECTIVE
To determine if the quality of medical imaging reports differs significantly between radiologists and nonradiologists.


METHODS
A retrospective nonblinded review of randomly selected chest and long bone x-ray reports by orthopedists and primary care physicians compared with randomly selected imaging reports generated by radiologists.


METHODS
We randomly selected 1 report from each of 50 high self-referring physicians privileged by 2 metropolitan New York area health plans for both bone and joint studies and chest x-rays for a total of 200 reports (50 bone and joint x-rays from each plan and 50 chest x-rays from each plan). We compared them with 50 randomly selected radiologist-generated reports. The reports were evaluated for quality based on the American College of Radiology's Guideline for Communication: Diagnostic Radiology. The data were analyzed by the 2-sample t-test between proportions at the 95% confidence interval.


RESULTS
Radiologists consistently provided higher-quality medical imaging reports than nonradiologists.


CONCLUSIONS
To improve imaging service quality, all providers should be held to the same standards for reporting and communication of results.
Weiner
Shelley Nan
SN
CareCore National, LLC, Wappingers Falls, NY, USA. sweiner@carecorenational.com.
D002983:Clinical Competence; D003142:Communication; D004282:Documentation / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D008485:Medical Audit; D009519:New York City; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000592:standards*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D011871:Radiology / Q000592:standards*; D011872:Radiology Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013038:Specialization