Navigating Patient-Radiologist Interaction

With this new accessibility of information comes new opportunities for interaction. According to Dr. Freeman, direct contact between most diagnostic radiologists and patients (except for in some subspecialties, such as breast imaging) remains uncommon, but he suspects it will become more frequent.

“At the very least, I believe the Act will increase public awareness of radiologists as health care providers, which may lead to patient requests to speak to the radiologists who read their scans,” he said.

Studying the Literature 

Research findings related to patient-radiologist communication are limited and diverse, Dr. Freeman said. Factors such as whether radiologists are available in-person, on the phone or via video conference seem to affect whether patients seek out communication with them. Involvement of the ordering provider may encourage these interactions, he said.

Dr. Freeman noted that a study published in Clinical Imaging found that including a radiologist’s phone number in the report led to only 22 calls from patients and caregivers out of 3,896 reports.

In his own pilot study, which appeared in Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology, Dr. Freeman and colleagues sent automated text messages offering a videoconference consult to patients who completed lung cancer screening CTs. There was a 7.9% (3/38) text-to-consult conversion rate. 

In contrast, a study in the American Journal of Roentgenology found a much higher rate of patients wanting to speak with radiologists. In the study, researchers established a diagnostic radiology consultation clinic and offered consultations with radiologists during routine primary care visits. They found that 88% of patients participated in the consultations. 

Legal Issues and Other Concerns

Some have raised questions about possible legal issues when it comes to radiologists communicating with patients.

“From my own personal experience, I think the greatest fear is that the radiologist will contradict the referring provider, creating a situation where the patient is hearing conflicting information,” Dr. Freeman said. 

Radiologists must take care not to venture outside their realm of expertise, he said. And yet, he asserted, it’s important to remember that imaging is the radiologist’s field of expertise, and that patients scanned in the radiology department are the radiologists’ patients, too.

“I think health care professionals and patients need some patience (no pun intended) with each other while navigating this new era,” Dr. Freeman said. “Patient panels are larger and patients more complicated than ever, and time is still finite. We must find a way for providers in all fields to balance this increasing workload and burnout risk with patient autonomy and satisfaction.”

Access the presentation, “Do Patients Want to Speak to Radiologists? What Does the Evidence Say?” (S5-CNPM18B) on demand at RSNA.org/MeetingCentral

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