Structured reporting of MRI of the shoulder – improvement of report quality?

Abstract

• Structured MRI reports of the shoulder improve readability. • Structured reporting facilitates information extraction. • Referring physicians prefer structured reports to narrative free text reports. • Structured MRI reports of the shoulder can reduce radiologist re-consultations.

New RANZCR clinical radiology written report guidelines

“…Since the original RANZCR literature review and guideline development process, there has been considerable new research about reporting, especially the use of templates. While many papers are still simply opinion surveys, there are now more studies analysing report attributes, particularly completeness, and effects on clinical outcomes . The recommendations in the RANZCR guidelines are generally consistent with the conclusions of recently and previously published studies.…”

“…More recent research has examined ‘structured’, ‘template’ or ‘itemised’ reporting. These terms are applied to a variety of distinct report creation methods ranging from specialised software with point‐and‐click selection from a menu of phrases, through auto‐population with a pick‐list for abnormalities, checklists and outlines with standard/default normal entries and the ability to make changes . These report styles are slowly coming into greater use in everyday practice …”

“…While an early paper using point‐and‐click software showed poorer performance, more recent studies showed improved diagnostic accuracy . Reader comprehension of report content is similar or improved with templates, and subjectively, information extraction is easier . A few studies have examined effects on patient management, showing less need for additional imaging or radiologist clarification with templates, but little difference in a measure of report contribution to overall clinical progress …”

“…An overwhelming majority of published papers has found template reports to be more complete and likely to include desired content than free‐text reports across a range of study types . As discussed earlier, a response to the clinical question is a particularly critical component of the radiology report.…”

Structured Reporting in Clinical Routine

“…It was able to be shown even outside of oncology that structured reporting results in a relevant increase in quality. Reports for simple chest X-rays [23] as well as for complicated examinations like CT enterography [24], MRI examination of the shoulder [25], CT angiography of the pulmonary circulation [26] and MRI examination in multiple sclerosis [27] benefit greatly from the use of structured report templates. In all cases significantly more relevant information was contained in the corresponding reports and referring clinicians preferred the structured reports to the conventional free-text format.…”