Juan Carlos Batlle MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Daniel Ira Rosenthal MD, Abstract Co-Author: Scientific Advisory Board, Covidien AG

Giles Walter Boland MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

To determine the influence of structured templates for radiology reporting on the quality of radiology reports. Structured reports help standardize radiology dictations for the benefit of referring physicians.

The dictations of all CTs read by three randomly-selected abdominal radiologists in 2006 and 2007 were analyzed (n=9594). Reports issued before a system-wide transition to structured reports in the first week of 2007 were compared to reports issued after the change with regard to word count, number of words per sentence, and Flesch reading ease score (n=5100 before transition, n=4494 after transition). The effect on the dictation of the presence of a trainee (resident or fellow) was also assessed.

After the transition to structured reports, there was a significant decrease in word count (292 to 226 words, p<0.001), a significant increase in number of words per sentence (4.8 to 5.0, p<0.001), and a significant worsening in Flesch reading ease score (30.6 to 24.6, p<0.001). The dataset was subdivided into all studies reported with a trainee (word count decreased from 277 to 223, p<0.001; words/sentence increased from 4.7 to 5.1, p<0.001; Flesch reading ease worsened from 31.0 to 25.9, p<0.001) and all studies reported without a trainee (word count decreased from 301 to 228, p<0.001; words/sentence increased from 4.8 to 5.0, p<0.001; Flesch reading ease worsened from 30.4 to 23.9, p<0.001). These findings were also true for each radiologist individually, regardless of the presence of a trainee in producing the report.

Although a policy to issue system-wide structured reports for radiology dictation is associated with a significantly lower average word count for reports, it was also associated with worsened metrics of readability. This result may help guide policy decisions for instituting system-wide structured reports.

Structured reporting may make reports more concise, but it is associated with lower readability. This may influence decisions to use structured reporting and on how to generate system-wide templates.

Batlle, J, Rosenthal, D, Boland, G, The Effects of Structured Template Reporting on the Quality of Radiology Reports.  Radiological Society of North America 2008 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, February 18 - February 20, 2008 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2008/6018778.html