The Virtual Radiology Reading Room: Initial Perceptions of Referring Providers and Radiologists

Abstract

The objective of this study is to assess the initial perception of referring providers and radiologists to a virtual consultation solution (the Virtual Radiology Reading Room, VR3). VR3 is specifically designed to replace the radiology reading room phone and enable the radiologist to continue to work as part of the clinical care team fielding radiology consults without being confined to the same physical space. Surveys of providers' and radiologists' initial experience were conducted approximately 6 months after initial deployment. Users were asked about their overall impression, and how well the solution integrates with their workflow as well as how it compares to traditional phone calls to the reading room. Forty of 71 referring providers and 27 of 44 radiologists responded to our survey. VR3 was rated 4.7 out of 5 stars by referrers and 4.1 by radiologists. Seventy percent of referrers and radiologists preferred VR3 to the phone while 4.5% of referrers and 11% of radiologists preferred the phone. Referring providers and radiologists expressed a positive initial perception of the Virtual Radiology Reading Room and prefer it to traditional phone calls to the reading room.

Keywords: Asynchronous; Communication; Consultation; Reading room; Value; Virtual.

Fig. 1

Referrer responses to VR3 initial perception survey questions on a Likert scale from 1 to 5 with 5 being "strongly agree" or the most positive response

Fig. 2

Referring providers’ expected turnaround times for "Standard" and "Urgent" consults as depicted by frequency charts

Fig. 3

Radiologist responses to VR3 initial perception survey questions on a Likert scale from 1 to 5 with 5 being "strongly agree" or the most positive response

Fig. 4

Radiologists’ expected turnaround times for "Standard" and "Urgent" consults as depicted by frequency charts