Derik L. Davis MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Michael E. Mulligan MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Arie Moszkowicz MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Charles S. Resnik MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

To determine if brief radiologist-patient interviews before musculoskeletal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) improve the quality of clinical information available during image interpretation.

The institutional review board approved this retrospective study and waived informed consent. A total of 186 screening questionnaires completed by outpatients prior to musculoskeletal MRI at a single institution between August and November 2011 were separated into two cohorts: (1) outpatient imaging center (IC) forms with no radiologist-patient interaction; (2) hospital (H) forms with radiologist-patient interviews before MRI. Two musculoskeletal (MSK) radiologists and one MSK fellow independently reviewed each form while blind to the patient demographics, imaging site, clinician referral information, and MR images. The reviewers rated the forms for quality on a 5-point scale: 5(outstanding) to 1(poor). A third MSK radiologist performed a separate analysis to determine if each question received an answer, and also to quantify the response to the open-ended symptoms question. The unpaired t test, Fischer exact test and χ2 test were used to compare the two cohorts.

The mean score of the H-cohort among reviewers was higher than the IC-cohort: 3.79 (±0.98) versus 3.04 (±1.00), P <0.0001. The mean scores for the H-cohort were also higher than the IC-cohort for each reviewer: [Reviewer 1: 4.32 (±0.76) versus 3.62 (±0.92), P <0.0001]; [Reviewer 2: 3.19 (±0.69) versus 2.67 (±0.72), P <0.0001]; [Reviewer 3: 3.86 (±0.93) versus 2.83 (±1.06), P <0.0001]. More than half of the questionnaires in each cohort did not receive a response to every question: H-cohort (56.1%) versus IC-cohort (52.7%), P = 0.6656. For the IC-cohort, 7.8% of forms did not list a single symptom versus 0.0% in the H-cohort, P = 0.0331. Also, 38.0% of forms from the IC-cohort recorded symptoms in ≤ 2 words versus only 8.8% in the H-cohort, P <0.0001.

Direct radiologist-patient interaction prior to musculoskeletal MRI improves the quality of clinical information available during image interpretation.

The interpretation of imaging studies with inadequate clinical information is not uncommon. Direct radiologist-patient communication before imaging may remedy this problem.

Davis, D, Mulligan, M, Moszkowicz, A, Resnik, C, Patient-centered Care: Lessons Learned from Brief Radiologist-patient Interviews Prior to Musculoskeletal Magnetic Resonance Imaging.  Radiological Society of North America 2013 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, December 1 - December 6, 2013 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2013/13014418.html