Evaluation of optimal education level to implement structured reporting into ultrasound training

Abstract

Aims: Reporting of head and neck ultrasound (HNU) has been outlined to be a major obstacle during ultrasound training due to a lack of standardized structure, content and terminology. Consequently, overall report quality differs significantly between various examiners posing a severe risk factor for information loss and miscommunication. Therefore, the present study’s purpose is to compare the overall quality of free text reports (FTR) and structured reports (SR) of HNU at various stages of training in order to determine the optimal educational level to implement SR.Material and methods: Typical pathologies in HNU were reported upon using SR and FTR by medical students, junior residents and senior residents. The reports were assessed for overall quality, time efficiency and readability. Additionally, user satisfaction was determined using a questionnaire.Results: SRs exhibited a significantly superior report quality (93.1% vs. 45.6%, p<0.001) at all training levels. Overall time efficiency was significantly better for SRs, especially at the stages of medical school and early residency (89.4 s vs. 160.2 s., p<0.001). Using structured reporting also increased user satisfaction significantly (VAS 8.6 vs. 3.9, p<0.001).Conclusions: Implementing structured reporting of HNU results in a superior report quality at all training stages. Greatest benefits for time efficiency are achieved by implementation during medical school. Therefore, structured reporting of HNU should be implemented early on in the training of HNU.

Diagnostic Performance of Kwak, EU, ACR, and Korean TIRADS as Well as ATA Guidelines for the Ultrasound Risk Stratification of Non-Autonomously Functioning Thyroid Nodules in a Region with Long History of Iodine Deficiency: A German Multicenter Trial

“…Concepts for the implementation of AI pattern detection and SR in the field of thyroid US have already been proposed. In particular, the generation of automated findings from manually acquired ultrasound image data has the potential to provide considerable time savings for medical staff and may thus also have health and economic relevance for regions with a high prevalence of thyroid disease [55][56][57].…”

Structured Reporting of Head and Neck Sonography Achieves Substantial Interrater Reliability

“…Our data show that within this cohort report completeness using SR was very high for all four different cases. As shown in previous studies, implementation of SR improves report completeness especially through the standardized query of structures and regions, E29 even if they are not involved in the pathology of interest and are not in the center of attention [8,[13][14][15]. This is safeguarded by the appropriate use of mandatory items within the report template.…”

ENT Residents Benefit from a Structured Operation Planning Approach in the Training of Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

“…Structured reporting (SR) has proven to be an auspicious approach compared to the common practice of free text reporting to standardize the content of reporting and thereby improve the report quality of several diagnostic modalities in otorhinolaryngology that are favored by many physicians [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. SR templates containing standardized terminology help to reduce the likelihood of missing key structures [11] and, consequently, may be of valuable help to improve surgical operation planning (SOP), especially for younger physicians in clinical routines [24,25].…”