Trainees Help Reduce Addendum Rates in Radiology Reports

Trainees may help reduce addendum rates in radiology reports, according to a study published in theAmerican Journal of Roentgenology.

Researchers from Georgia, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Kentucky performed a retrospective study to evaluate the impact of trainee involvement and other factors on addendum rates in radiology reports.

The study was performed in a tertiary care pediatric hospital and included all radiology reports from January 1,2016 to June 30, 2016. The researchers reviewed several factors:

• Trainee (resident or fellow involvement)

• Imaging modality

• Patient setting (emergency, inpatient, or outpatient)

• Order status (routine versus immediate)

• Time of interpretation (regular work hours versus off-hours)

• Radiologist's years of experience

• Sex

The researchers grouped the imaging modalities as advanced (CT, MRI, and PET) or nonadvanced, which were any modality that was not CT, MRI, or PET. Radiologist experience level was listed as 20 years or less or more than 20 years. The outcome measure was the rate of addenda in radiology reports.

The results showed 418 (0.3%) of 129,033 reports finalized during the study period had addenda. Reports generated without trainees were 12 times more likely to have addenda than reports with trainee involvement. The researchers noted that advanced imaging studies were also more likely than nonadvanced studies to be associated with addendum use, as were reports generated for patients in emergency or outpatient settings compared with those in an inpatient setting.

Routine orders had a slightly higher likelihood of addendum use compared with immediate orders, but there was no difference in addendum use by radiologist's sex, radiologist's years of experience, emergency versus outpatient setting, or time of interpretation.

The researchers concluded that when trainees are involved in the process, they may add value to patient care by decreasing addendum rates in radiology reports.