Providers' opinions on giving patients open access to their radiology reports are evolving
It is becoming more common for people to be given full access to their imaging reports, but some radiologists and referring providers have expressed concerns in the past about how this practice could negatively affect patient anxiety.
A new meta-analysis in the Journal of the American College of Radiology provides an in-depth look at how both patients and providers perceive opening full access to radiology reports. The majority of the work focused on how patients felt about being able to view their reads, with most expressing interest.
The opinions of physicians, however, varied, especially those expressed in older studies included in the analysis, the authors noted.
“Among the concerns expressed by healthcare professionals, there has been notable apprehension from healthcare providers regarding how patients would react to reports that contain complicated medical terminology and abbreviations,” corresponding author Mohammad Alarifi, PhD, a post-doctoral fellow at the College of Health Sciences and Human Sciences at Northern Illinois University, and colleagues explained. “While the information in the reports is well understood within the medical community, patients typically lack the same medical education and background to understand such reports.”
Since 2010, physicians’ attitudes have shifted to a more accepting mindset, the analysis showed. This could be due, in part, to changes in reporting formats (with structured reporting being perceived as more patient friendly) and the changing landscape of provider-patient communication. Online access to medical records has become standard practice, making sharing radiology reports and communicating findings much simpler, the authors suggested.
Providers appear to be encouraged by the knowledge patients gain from viewing their reports. They also reported increased patient-physician engagement and communication as a benefit of online report access.
Although the trend indicates positive momentum for the advancement of enterprise imaging systems, the authors noted that there was a significant gap in recent data pertaining to how providers feel about patients having open access to radiology reports—something they describe as a “critical oversight.”
“Physicians play a crucial role in the design and acceptance of health technologies, the group wrote. “Several studies call attention to that collaboration with clinicians throughout the design and implementation process is essential for successful adoption of health information technology."
Are patients ready?
Conversations centered on including patients’ needs in enterprise imaging systems have gained steam in recent years. With many organizations planning to move on from older legacy picture archiving systems—and many that have already made the move—there has been a push to determine how to best include patients.
At this year’s annual SIIM conference, speakers expressed confidence that patients are just as ready for the switch as providers.
“We really need a situation where patients can just get online and view their images,” Stacie Barnard, the director of Integrated Clinical Systems-Enterprise Informatics at University of Rochester Medical Center, said during a panel discussion. “I think that many of them are tech savvy enough to utilize that sort of access.”
She went on to explain how having easy access to imaging reports benefits both patients and providers, suggesting that it prepares both parties to engage in meaningful discussions about treatment plans.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.