Subspecialized radiological reporting reduces radiology report turnaround time

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Healthcare Management
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• Decentralized, modality-based radiology reporting can lead to variable turnaround times.
• Centralized, subspecialized reporting models aim to improve efficiency and accuracy.
• Optimizing radiology report turnaround time (RTAT) is crucial for patient care and workflow.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare radiology report turnaround time (RTAT) between decentralized/modality-based and centralized/subspecialized reporting systems.
• To evaluate the impact of a reporting system change on RTAT across a multi-center radiology enterprise.
• To analyze RTAT differences in specific imaging modalities and hospital types.

Main Methods:

• A multi-center study compared RTAT before and after transitioning from decentralized to centralized reporting.
• Data included MRI, CT, and conventional radiography reports from September 2017 to December 2018.
• Statistical analysis used the Mann-Whitney U test, comparing major and minor hospitals and subspecialties (body, musculoskeletal, neuroradiology).

Main Results:

• Centralized reporting significantly decreased overall RTAT for the first signature (82 to 77 min) and second signature (119 to 107 min).
• Significant RTAT reductions were observed for MRI (second signature: 1051 to 401 min) and conventional radiographs (278 to 171 min).
• Minor hospitals experienced a more pronounced RTAT decrease (300 to 198 min) compared to major hospitals (288 to 245 min), though results varied.

Conclusions:

• Transitioning to centralized, subspecialized radiology reporting is associated with a significant decrease in RTAT.
• MRI and conventional radiograph reporting times were notably improved.
• The benefits of centralized reporting were more pronounced in minor hospitals, indicating potential for targeted implementation.