Patient-Friendly Radiology Reporting-Implementation and Outcomes

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate patient use and experience with patient-centered radiology reports provided via a radiology-specific patient portal in an outpatient setting.

Methods: Patient-centered interactive radiology reports were made available to all patients who had imaging examinations performed at any of seven outpatient imaging centers via a radiology-specific patient portal, using commercially available software. We recorded portal usage statistics including report access rate, report view time, and use of interactive diagrams and plain language explanations. We assessed patients' subjective report comprehension and experience via survey questions. Results were stratified by age.

Results: The majority of patients accessed their online radiology report (59%). For patients who used the interactive plain language definitions and diagrams, the average report viewing time was 5.8 ± 6.6 min compared with 1.8 ± 1.9 min for patients viewing only the raw text report (P < .005). The majority (84.7%) of patients reported that the definitions and diagrams helped them understand their report, and 86.7% of patients endorsed an overall positive experience viewing their report online.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that patient-centered radiology reporting is feasible in the outpatient private practice setting and that dedicated patient-centered content has the potential to increase engagement across all age groups. Our experience suggests that patient-centered radiology reports may improve subjective patient comprehension and positively impact the patient experience.

Keywords: 21st Century CURES Act; health IT; patient engagement; patient-centered reporting; plain language medical reports.