With effective patient care the goal, radiologists reported in a national survey that systemic IT issues hinder the industry.

A consensus of the radiologists who responded to the survey administered by e-Rewards Market Research (e-Rewards) indicated serious challenges in connectivity between information systems and medical imaging systems of physicians or hospitals, often resulting in delayed or missed diagnoses. Worse, approximately 75 percent of respondents viewed this challenge as growing and critical to the industry.

Duplicate or Unnecessary?

Again, nearly 75 percent of the radiologists surveyed reported incidences of unnecessary or duplicate scans experienced over the last six months. The amount of CT scans, the survey reports, total 62 million per year, a figure that has nearly doubled within the last five years. It is suspected that 30 percent were unnecessary or redundant, especially important in light of the mounting concern over increased cancer risk from exposure to radiation.

"Not only must radiologists have access to previous reports and images in order to make a proper evaluation, but also to protect patients against unnecessary scans that can harm their health," said Dr. John Anastos, chairman of radiology at Advocate Lutheran Hospital in Chicago. He cites that patient stress and overexposure to radiation are by-products of information systems that fail to communicate in real time.

Other issues include lack of access to patient medical records, an issue which raises medical risk for patients. John B. Macfarlane, CEO Compressus, Inc., a medical imaging software company, discussed the interoperability of components, "The inability of physicians, hospitals, patients, insurers and government agencies to communicate with each other creates a legacy of waste, inefficiency, cost, and most importantly, serious risk to patient safety."

Workflow "Tipping Point"
The survey said that 84 percent of the respondents admit not having sufficient time to access, read, and deliver results of scans. Most of this group sees this overburden perpetuating and resulting in life-threatening conditions for patients.

Further survey findings indicate:
* Eighty-six percent of radiologists surveyed cited the financial restrictions associated with the Deficit Reduction Act as a hindrance to the industry and over half consider it a major challenge.
* More than half are concerned about the growing trend of radiology practice consolidation through mergers and acquisitions and that the trend will have a negative impact on patient safety.
* Eighty-nine percent believe productivity of radiologists would be improved by universal remote access to scanned images.
* Seventy-three percent receive x-rays or scans from multiple facilities--some up to 10-often with varying information systems

Methodology
The survey was disbursed online to 101 national, practicing, diagnostic radiologists during November 7-13, 2008. It was administered by e-Rewards using its Physician Panel which reaches subspecialties markets. Database records included licensed or purchased association or governmental records that are verified with standard verification processes.

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