title: RadPath: A Web-based System for Integrating and Correlating Radiology and Pathology Findings During Cancer Diagnosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The current paradigm of cancer diagnosis involves uncoordinated communication of findings from radiology and pathology to downstream physicians. Discordance between these findings can require additional time from downstream users to resolve, or given incorrect resolution, may adversely impact treatment decisions. To mitigate this problem, we developed a web-based system, called RadPath, for correlating and integrating radiology and pathology reporting.
  
  
  METHODS
  RadPath includes interfaces to our institution's clinical information systems, which are used to retrieve reports, images, and test results that are structured into an interactive compendium for a diagnostic patient case. The system includes an editing interface for physicians, allowing for the inclusion of additional clinical data, as well as the ability to retrospectively correlate and contextualize imaging findings following pathology diagnosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During pilot deployment and testing over the course of 1 year, physicians at our institution have completed 60 RadPath cases, requiring an average of 128 seconds from a radiologist and an average of 93 seconds from a pathologist per case. Several technical and workflow challenges were encountered during development, including interfacing with diverse clinical information systems, automatically structuring report contents, and determining the appropriate physicians to create RadPath summaries. Reaction to RadPath has been positive, with users valuing the system's ability to consolidate diagnostic information.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With the increasing complexity of medicine and the movement toward team-based disease management, there is a need for improved clinical communication and information exchange. RadPath provides a platform for generating coherent and correlated diagnostic summaries in cancer diagnosis with minimal additional effort from physicians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, 924 Westwood Blvd Ste 420, Los Angeles CA, 90024. Electronic address: cwarnold@ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Corey W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: W Dean
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, 924 Westwood Blvd Ste 420, Los Angeles CA, 90024.
authors.forename: Shawn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, 924 Westwood Blvd Ste 420, Los Angeles CA, 90024.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, 924 Westwood Blvd Ste 420, Los Angeles CA, 90024.
authors.forename: Fereidoun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Abtin
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, 924 Westwood Blvd Ste 420, Los Angeles CA, 90024.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Genshaft
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Binder
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, 924 Westwood Blvd Ste 420, Los Angeles CA, 90024.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aberle
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, 924 Westwood Blvd Ste 420, Los Angeles CA, 90024.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Enzmann
mesh_terms: D057286:Electronic Health Records; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D020407:Internet; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D000072177:Radiologists; D011873:Radiology Information Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D057188:Workflow
keywords: Cancer diagnosis; Clinical workflow; Integrated reporting