Some diseases and conditions hide inside our bodies: calcified arteries that could cause a heart attack, infections, slight fractures in a bone or even cancerous tumors.
Special imaging, like x-rays, MRIs or CT scans, makes them visible. But what's revealed in those bluish-tinted black and white pictures takes a highly discerning eye to decode.
Radiologists, like detectives looking for clues to close a case, know what to search for in those black-and-white pictures of our brains, lungs, arteries, bones and muscles. They are specialists at seeing what should not be there and create detailed reports for doctors to confirm a diagnosis and guide treatment.
For Dr. Ricardo Cury, chair of radiology at both FIU and Baptist Health, it's not uncommon to examine anywhere between 200 images for simple cases like x-rays to 20 for more complex MRIs. That can add up to an average of 50 to 60 reports daily.
Advancements in technology, like AI-powered speech-to-text conversion tools, have helped radiologists dictate and complete these important reports for the patient's healthcare team, however not without sometimes introducing mistakes into the transcription that can have ripple effects.
"Every error is significant and can lead to inaccuracies in interpretation of findings," Cury explains. "Our goal is accurate, high quality and highly specialized interpretations. More accurate reports benefit patients."
That's why Cury, as a part of a collaborative team of researchers from FIU's Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and Baptist Health, investigated the accuracy and effectiveness of a new, more concise, but still structured, easy-to-read reporting style. It uses voice commands to dictate but only focuses on documenting abnormal findings radiologists are trained to spot and doctors need to know about. Basically, what they see (that shouldn't be there) is what they say.
To the point
- FIU and Baptist Health researchers found a new radiology reporting style was better than the checklist-style approach commonly used to improve radiologists' focus on various diagnostic images.
- It cut down on inaccuracies and dictation time — a win for both patients whose treatment plan hinges on accuracy and radiologists, often juggling a massive workload.
- For the study, experienced board-certified radiologists wore eye-tracking goggles while looking at a variety of x-rays, MRIs and CT scans. With the new style, the average dictation time was reduced by approximately 50%.
