Structured reporting of prostate magnetic resonance imaging has the potential to improve interdisciplinary communication

Abstract

Background Effective interdisciplinary communication of imaging findings is vital for patient care, as referring physicians depend on the contained information for the decision-making and subsequent treatment. Traditional radiology reports contain non-structured free text and potentially tangled information in narrative language, which can hamper the information transfer and diminish the clarity of the report. Therefore, this study investigates whether newly developed structured reports (SRs) of prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can improve interdisciplinary communication, as compared to non-structured reports (NSRs). Methods 50 NSRs and 50 SRs describing a single prostatic lesion were presented to four urologists with expert level experience in prostate cancer surgery or targeted MRI TRUS fusion biopsy. They were subsequently asked to plot the tumor location in a 2-dimensional prostate diagram and to answer a questionnaire focusing on information on clinically relevant key features as well as the perceived structure of the report. A validated scoring system that distinguishes between “major” and “minor” mistakes was used to evaluate the accuracy of the plotting of the tumor position in the prostate diagram. Results The mean total score for accuracy for SRs was significantly higher than for NSRs (28.46 [range 13.33–30.0] vs. 21.75 [range 0.0–30.0], p < 0.01). The overall rates of major mistakes (54% vs. 10%) and minor mistakes (74% vs. 22%) were significantly higher (p < 0.01) for NSRs than for SRs. The rate of radiologist re-consultations was significantly lower (p < 0.01) for SRs than for NSRs (19% vs. 85%). Furthermore, SRs were rated as significantly superior to NSRs in regard to determining the clinical tumor stage (p < 0.01), the quality of the summary (4.4 vs. 2.5; p < 0.01), and overall satisfaction with the report (4.5 vs. 2.3; p < 0.01), and as more valuable for further clinical decision-making and surgical planning (p < 0.01). Conclusions Structured reporting of prostate MRI has the potential to improve interdisciplinary communication. Through SRs, expert urologists were able to more accurately assess the exact location of single prostate cancer lesions, which can facilitate surgical planning. Furthermore, structured reporting of prostate MRI leads to a higher satisfaction level of the referring physician.

Comparison of Urologist Satisfaction for Different Types of Prostate MRI Reports: A Large Sample Investigation

“…Clinicians require not only diagnostic accuracy but also language clarity in radiology reports (9, 10), which is needed for standardization of the radiology report. Previous study (11) revealed that a structured prostate MRI report could improve interdisciplinary communication and help urologists evaluate the exact location of PCa lesions more accurately, which could provide more accurate assessment of PCa and facilitate treatment planning. The TNM staging system for PCa, initially introduced in 1992 (12), plays an essential role in accurately reflecting the total cancer burden, evaluating the extent of spread at the time of diagnosis, and stratifying patients into prognostic groups for appropriate treatment planning.…”

“…Clinicians require not only diagnostic accuracy but also language clarity in radiology reports ( 9 10 ), which is needed for standardization of the radiology report. Previous study ( 11 ) revealed that a structured prostate MRI report could improve interdisciplinary communication and help urologists evaluate the exact location of PCa lesions more accurately, which could provide more accurate assessment of PCa and facilitate treatment planning.…”

Improving radiologic communication in oncology: a single-centre experience with structured reporting for cancer patients

“…Web browser-based reporting tools can be used to generate structured reports. Several authors have used a commercial online reporting solution that is primarily designed to generate structured reports containing semantic sentences using predefined text phrases from itemised point-and-click data entry [ 5 , 9 , 28 , 34 – 36 ]. Pinto dos Santos et al have developed an open-source reporting platform that is compliant with IHE Management of Radiology Report Templates profile and stores report information in an additional database aside from RIS to facilitate data analysis [ 37 ].…”

“…for rectal cancer [1,3] or pancreatic cancer [1,4]. Regarding content and presence of key descriptors, superiority of structured reports over conventional reports has been demonstrated for both of these diseases [5][6][7][8] as well as for several other malignancies such as prostate cancer [9] and hepatocellular carcinoma [10,11]. Thus, the advantages of structured reporting for primary diagnosis and initial local staging are well recognised.…”

The role of structured reporting and structured operation planning in functional endoscopic sinus surgery

“…Structured reporting (SR) has been advocated for various diagnostic modalities in radiology as well as in otolaryngology and other specialties with impact on treatment decisions and interdisciplinary communication [19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. The main benefit, especially for residents in training, is the standardization of the content and terminology which is known to improve report quality and time efficiency when compared to conventional reporting (CR) [19][20][21].…”