Structured reporting is an important method for improving the completeness of radiology reports and the satisfaction of referring physicians, said presenter Dr. Marco Armbruster. However, while several studies have reported on the possible benefits of structured reporting in oncologic imaging, only a few papers have assessed its effects in musculoskeletal radiology.
As a result, the team set out to test the possible benefits of structured reporting in musculoskeletal imaging. They developed an online platform to create specific templates and employed a dedicated template for reporting shoulder MRI, Armbruster said.
In a detailed comparison between narrative free-text reports and structured reports, structured reports were judged by two orthopedic surgeons to be more complete, less time-consuming to extract information from, and better for facilitating clinical decision-making. There were also no significant differences in linguistic quality between structured and nonstructured reports, Armbruster told AuntMinnie.com.
