Navigating the Daunting Challenges and Potential Opportunities in Radiology

A recent study crystallized the sharp uptake in imaging volume with researchers noting a 113 percent increase in radiology report turnaround times with 87 percent of the increase occurring in 2022 and 2023. In a recent interview with Diagnostic Imaging, Nicholas Galante, MD, and Andrew Del Gaizo, MD, discussed these study findings and other challenges in radiology.

“We've seen a bit of a perfect storm where volumes have gone up, case complexity has gone up, the number of images in each study have gone up and simultaneously, the number of radiologists has stayed flat or even gone down between attrition and the number of new slots for trainees has been relatively flat,” summarized Dr. Del Gaizo, an abdominal radiologist and chief medical information officer for Rad AI.

In addition to the spiraling imaging volume, many radiologists were taken aback by the recent decision to sunset PowerScribe 360, a tool commonly employed for radiology reporting. However, Dr. Galante said this is an opportunity to reimagine how one can overcome the muscle memory with traditional reporting by exploring next-generation reporting solutions.

“It's easy to explain this in terms of image load speed. … If it takes one or two seconds for X rays to load, and you're reading hundreds of X rays a day. It's very easy to conceptualize that that's going to be a massive time penalty, but we ignore the same time penalty involved in all those micro-steps or micro-aggressions, with regard to the clicks and the drags and the head movement. I think massive efficiency gains are going to come from that. I've already experienced that by dabbling with next-generation reporting. It does take some getting used to. It is change management. Muscle memory is definitely there, but once you embrace it, it's part of the solution and a significant part,” maintained Dr. Galante, the medical director for informatics at Radiology Associates of North Texas.

Dr. Del Gaizo emphasized the importance of workflow orchestration with AI and interoperability to reduce cognitive load and shifting away from a fragmented approach of trying to integrate multiple AI software platforms.

“Anything that keeps me from having to hop from one system to another, anything that keeps the systems working together — more connected, more integrated — that's just where we need to go. I think we're at that threshold where there's not an alternative. If we want to continue to provide adequate patient care, we need better workflow orchestration,” noted Dr. Del Gaizo.

Despite the current challenges and obstacles, Drs. Del Gaizo and Galante remain bullish about radiology’s future.

“We like variety. We like change. We like technology. You know, these are all things that are inherent to radiology. We are the original, say, digitally native specialty. If the majority of radiologists like those things, I think the future is bright, because there's tremendous opportunity to explore new solutions, discover new solutions and build new solutions. Be part of that process. Be the creators, the regulators, the arbiters and the oracles,” posited Dr. Galante.