C.O.V.E.R. (Clinician’s Opinions, Views, and Expectations concerning the radiology Report) Study: A University Hospital Experience

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#The study seeks to examine if radiology reports at the University of Santo Tomas Hospital (USTH) meet referring physicians’ preferences pertaining to the following parameters of a well-composed radiology report: Importance, Clinical correlation, Referrer’s satisfaction, Content, Structure and Style. It also aims to compare outcomes from this region with its European (EURO) counterpart to highlight possible regional differences in preferences@*Methods and Materials@#A 41-item survey was distributed among consultants and fellows at USTH. Respondents graded their level of agreement using a Likert scale. A free text area was for comments, opinions, and/or suggestions on improving the radiology report. Reponses were collated, statistically analyzed, and compared with those of the EURO study. The study was approved by the hospital’s Review Board and voluntary consent was obtained for each participant.@*Results @#A total of 283 clinicians participated in the study with a good response rate. The majority of the statements showed similar results between this Southeast Asian study and the EURO study. The highlights of the study based on the different criteria are as follows: On Importance: The radiology report is a valued tool in the management of patients in everyday practice; On Clinical Correlation: Clinicians would rather radiologists know about the patients’ medical condition except for a few who think otherwise, due to the possibility of bias in the report; On Referrer’s Satisfaction: Clinicians are satisfi ed with the reports they receive although the use of common words is more appreciated; On content: Clinicians read the descriptive part of the report and they would like to receive an impression of the pathology at the end; On Structure and Style: The use of simpler style and vocabulary in making radiology reports should be considered for better understanding and also to include explicit technical details of the examination; Open communication with clinicians, faster release of results and specialty-based interpretation of images were also some of the suggestions in this study. Clinicians from both studies also advocate the incorporation of making a radiology report a part of the radiology training. @*Conclusion@#The radiology reports generated from USTH were able to meet referring physicians’ preferences, providing substantial information that is valued as an essential part of patient management. Outcomes from this study showed the majority of the fi ndings to be similar with its European (EURO) counterpart.