For years the number of publications on structured reporting has been increasing. With that the potential benefits related to structured reporting find increasing validation.
Standardization and Structurein Reporting Save Lives
A study published in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics shows that use of standardized structured reporting in colorectal cancer is associated with longer survival of patients. "We demonstrate that use of standardized structured reporting (SSR) improved patient care in those with colorectal cancer by providing more complete reports of higher quality, which had significant effects on the delivery of adjuvant therapy and patient outcomes.
Caro E. Sluijter, MSc; Frans van Workum, MD; Theo Wiggers, MD, PhD; Carlijn van de Water; Otto Visser, MD, PhD; Henk-Jan van Slooten, MD, PhD; Lucy I.H. Overbeek, PhD; Iris D. Nagtegaal, MD, PhD
"Although medicine is constantly evolving, radiological reporting has remained virtually unchanged. The format and quality of radiological reporting needs to evolve. [...] The time has come for quality improvement of radiology reporting related to cancer patients."
"This article outlines the requirements for a successful structured reporting strategy. [...] Moving from conventional prose reports to structured reporting is endorsed as a positive development, and must be an international effort, with international design and adoption of structured reporting templates that can be translated and adapted in local environments as needed."
This paper was prepared by the ESR eHealth and Informatics Subcommittee
Structured Reporting: a Fusion Reactor Hungry for Fuel
"A structured report supposes: the presence of lists and hierarchical relationships; the use of coded or numerical content in addition to plain text; the use of relationships between concepts; and the presence of embedded references to images and similar objects.
Structured reporting according to these criteria would open up possibilities we can only dream of with our traditional text reports."
Jan M. L. Bosmans, Emanuele Neri, Osman Ratib & Charles E. Kahn Jr.
"Future reports need to escape the singleton, “thrown over the wall” document. As reports enter the comprehensive electronic medical record, they need the capacity to be mined in multiple dimensions. Structured reporting and tools such as Radlex lead radiology in the direction of facilitating data mining. Recall, the raison d’être of radiology is a medical decision, and becoming an information business raises the likelihood that radiology can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of decision making while decreasing time and money costs."
Structured Radiology Reporting: Addressing the Communication Quality Gap
"Recent articles highlight quality gaps in radiology reports related not only to accuracy but also to clarity and completeness. We review and highlight the gaps related to the quality of radiology reports and discuss strategies to improve effective communication."
"The goal of this review is therefore to provide an overview of current efforts to improve reporting, particularly with respect to the creation of structured reports using corresponding report templates. In addition, solutions that can already be used in the clinical routine are presented and discussed."
Daniel Pinto dos Santos, Johann-Martin Hempel, Peter Mildenberger, Roman Klöckner, Thorsten Persigehl
Structured Reporting: Patient Care Enhancement or Productivity Nightmare?
The article discussed structured reporting in a classic format, by alternatively discussing the pros and cons of structured reporting from two radiologists' point of view.