[Digital patient journey after radiological diagnostics : Patient portals-what comes after the examination?]

After radiological diagnostics, the patient journey does not end with image acquisition and reporting. Patients often face questions regarding report access, image sharing, follow-up, second opinions and care coordination. Digital patient portals may structure this transition, but their functionality varies substantially.

To assess the role of digital patient portals after radiological diagnostics and to clinically classify their relevance within the "After the examination: what comes next?" phase.

Narrative review focusing on radiology patient portals, direct release of imaging results, image access and sharing, patient-controlled image exchange, notification of follow-up recommendations and emergency department contexts.

After imaging, patient portals mainly serve six functions: providing reports and images, contextualizing findings, enabling secure communication, supporting transfer to external physicians, tracking follow-up recommendations and guiding downstream care. Studies indicate that many patients actively access radiology results online, with reports being viewed more frequently than images. Portals create most value when reports, images and clear action options are delivered together.

After radiological diagnostics, the patient portal becomes a digital bridge between imaging and subsequent care. Therefore, radiological quality should not be assessed solely by image acquisition and report quality, but also by whether patients know what to do next after receiving the results.