After implementing an automated system for capturing patient photos during portable radiographs, two wrong-patient errors were found within six months and were only discovered because of the photographs, according to Dr. Srini Tridandapani, PhD, of Emory University in Atlanta.
"Even more interesting, the photograph from the wrong study was used to identify to whom the wrong radiograph belonged," he told AuntMinnie.com. "In the past, if we noticed wrong-patient errors, we simply threw out the wrong study. Now we have the capability to find the correct patient."
Although the researchers initially designed the technology to help with wrong-patient errors, they found that the photographs were also useful in deriving image-related clinical content, such as quickly determining the exact location of a diabetic foot ulcer on a patient, he said.
They also discovered that the system was helpful for evaluating lines and tubes, enabling radiologists to correlate what is outside versus inside the patient, Tridandapani said. Wide-angle lenses were used to ensure that the patient's face was always included in a chest or abdominal radiography exam. In many cases, these also captured the patient's vital signs monitor, yielding additional clinical information.
What's more, including patient photographs can evoke feelings of empathy in radiologists, he noted.
"We can now start treating each examination as a patient and not merely a case," he said. "We would like to study in the future if having such personalization of the studies with constant reminders that there is a patient behind each study makes us focus more on each study and gives us more job satisfaction. And, if so, does this make us better radiologists?"
