The role of a consultant radiologist—are patients still in the dark?

Abstract

Little is known regarding public awareness of the roles and responsibilities of a consultant radiologist. Between 1 April and 20 May 2008, 916 outpatients attending our radiology department completed a questionnaire addressing this issue. We found public perception variable. Thirty-six percent of respondents thought we were responsible for choosing appropriate imaging; only 65% perceived that we reported studies. Another 38% felt that we did not play an important role in their treatment, and 38% considered that we were not part of their medical team. Thirty-two percent of respondents preferred their hospital consultant to give them their imaging results, with 17% preferring this to come from the radiologist. There is significant under-appreciation of the roles and responsibilities of a consultant radiologist. It is important that we educate the public to ensure that future health policy reflects the increasingly central role imaging plays in health-care delivery.

Who's the doctor? Patients' perceptions of the role of the breast radiologist: a lesson for all radiologists

“…This finding is in line with results from the aforementioned study by Grant et al [6]. In their study, 53% of participants thought that radiologists performed their examination.…”

“…This finding is at odds with the results of a study carried out by Grant et al [6], who found that the majority of their respondents (82%) could identify that radiologists were medically qualified. 54% of their study participants related the length of time spent training as a radiologist to the complexity of the role of the radiologist.…”

Patients Prefer Results From the Ordering Provider and Access to Their Radiology Reports

“…We also surveyed our respondents regarding their knowledge of radiologists. In agreement with previous studies [11,13,14], there was a general lack of knowledge among patients regarding the education and role of radiologists. It is possible that this misunderstanding is a contributor to patients' disinterest in hearing results from radiologists, as suggested by our subanalysis showing slightly more interest in radiologist-centric communication models among patients most familiar with radiologists' role.…”

“…First among these unknowns are the preferences of patients. Few studies have examined patients' preferences, and those that have, have yielded conflicting results [8][9][10][11][12][13]. Additionally, most previously published studies involved surveys of outpatients at single institutions, resulting in narrowly selected groups of patients.…”

Preferences of referring physicians regarding the role of radiologists as direct communicators of test results

“…Previous studies have shown that patients prefer to receive their test results from RPs rather than radiologists (2,(20)(21)(22)(23). However, the results of these studies should be interpreted cautiously because they do not involve a standardized method of conduct that includes factors such as the patients' educational and sociocultural background; anticipated delivery time of the test results; and the type of patient-radiologist encounter (i.e., interactive vs. noninteractive).…”