Handoffs Between Radiologists and Patients: Threat or Opportunity?

Direct Reporting of Results to Patients

“…In addition to busy practices that do not allow time for doctor communication, radiologists may face difficulty in knowing the significance of the imaging findings in the spectrum of patients' health histories, and there is continued speculation whether direct reporting by radiologists would weaken or strengthen clinician-patient relationships (16).…”

Patients Prefer Results From the Ordering Provider and Access to Their Radiology Reports

“…In an era of value-focused care, some authors have called on radiologists to increase their direct communication with patients in an effort to improve visibility and create value [2][3][4][5][6]. Improved visibility helps radiologists demonstrate the value they already currently provide [1,7].…”

Multiprovider and Patient Perspectives on Conveying Diagnostic Imaging Investigation Results in a South African Public Health Care System

“…The radiologists in our study were reluctant to accept the responsibilities of direct patient communication because conveying imaging investigation results had not been considered a part of their roles in the past [4] . This reluctance might be linked to radiologists' expressed need for formal training in effective communication skills [1 18] , specifically with regard to establishing an attentive relationship with a patient, sharing clinical information, and treating patients with empathy and respect within a framework of patient rights [19] .…”

“…However, Bazzocchi [3] contends -that written communication cannot be considered sufficient and that verbal communication will become increasingly central to the development of the modern radiologist‖ (p. 340). Equally important is the collective responsibility of the radiologist and the referring clinician for the eventual diagnosis [4] . The shift to shared responsibility for communicating results so that findings are not lost -in ether‖ (p. 854) [4] is controversial [5] because of arguments related to the organization of work and ethical, medicolegal, and training implications [3 6 7] .…”

“…Equally important is the collective responsibility of the radiologist and the referring clinician for the eventual diagnosis [4] . The shift to shared responsibility for communicating results so that findings are not lost -in ether‖ (p. 854) [4] is controversial [5] because of arguments related to the organization of work and ethical, medicolegal, and training implications [3 6 7] . Mathers et al [8] call for the use of modern communication methods in a -multiprofessional, multi-departmental approach to provide timely effective standardised and seamless results giving service for all‖ (p. 162).…”