Dear Healthcare Informatics Insider,
Structured reports offer a number of benefits in radiology, and it's no surprise that referring physicians often prefer them over the traditional free-text radiology report.
As a case in point, a team from Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich recently shared how surgeons judged structured reports of shoulder MRI studies to be more complete and of higher quality than free-text reports. What's more, the surgeons found structured reports to be better for clinical decision-making and surgical planning.
Click here to learn more about this German research as well as the online structured reporting platform used in the study.
In other articles this month in our Healthcare Informatics Community, a recent U.K. audit uncovered some troubling issues in the area of critical results monitoring. The research, which was organized by the Royal College of Radiology, found wide variation in how critical radiology reports are communicated and monitored. Many departments are not fully compliant with published U.K. guidance, according to our report by staff writer Rebekah Moan.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing in Germany and Radboud University in the Netherlands have launched an ambitious project to deploy deep-learning computer algorithms in medical imaging. Follow-up of cancer patients is one of the first three focus areas for the initiative, called Automation in Medical Imaging. Click here to learn more.
Contributing writer Dr. Mathias Cohnen of the Clinical Radiology Institute, Städtische Kliniken Neuss at Lukaskrankenhaus in Neuss, Germany, has authored an update on developments in providing standardized service documents in radiology departments. You can access it by clicking here.
Social media can be a minefield for unwary medical professionals, and it's crucial to be fully aware of local guidance, according to U.K. researchers. Editor-in-Chief Philip Ward has our coverage, which you can access by clicking here.
If you have any tips or suggestions for topics you'd like to see covered in the Healthcare Informatics Community, please feel free to drop me a line.
