title: Software solutions alone cannot guarantee useful radiology requests.
abstract: Background The availability of clinical information and a pertinent clinical question can improve the diagnostic accuracy of the imaging process. Purpose To examine if an electronic request form forcing referring clinicians to provide separate input of both clinical information and a clinical question can improve the quality of the request. Material and Methods A total of 607 request forms in the clinical worklists for a computed tomography (CT) scan of the thorax, the abdomen or their combination, were examined. Using software of our own making, we examined the presence of clinical information and a clinical question before and after the introduction of a new, more compelling order method. We scored and compared the quality of the clinical information and the clinical question between the two systems and we examined the effect on productivity. Results Both clinical information and a clinical question were present in 76.7% of cases under the old system and in 95.3% under the new system ( P < 0.001). Individual characteristics of the clinical information and the clinical question however, with the exception of incompleteness, showed little improvement under the new system. There was also no significant difference between the two systems in the number of requests requiring further search. Conclusion The introduction of electronic radiology request forms compelling referring clinicians to provide separate input of clinical information and a clinical question provides only limited benefit to the quality of the request. Raising awareness among clinicians of the importance of a well-written request remains essential.
authors.affiliation: 1 Ghent University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Mathias D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Van Borsel
authors.affiliation: 1 Ghent University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pieter Jd
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Devolder
authors.affiliation: 1 Ghent University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Ghent, Belgium.|2 Antwerp University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Edegem, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan Ml
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bosmans
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium; D005568:Forms and Records Control / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D008487:Medical History Taking / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D050316:Medical Order Entry Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D011871:Radiology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011873:Radiology Information Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011996:Records; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012984:Software
keywords: Health policy and practice; computed tomography (CT); computer applications – general; radiology report; referral and consultation