Development, implementation, and evaluation of a structured reporting web tool for abdominal aortic aneurysms

Karim, Sulafa; Fegeler, Christian; Boeckler, Dittmar; H Schwartz, Lawrence; Kauczor, Hans-Ulrich; von Tengg-Kobligk, Hendrik (2013). Development, implementation, and evaluation of a structured reporting web tool for abdominal aortic aneurysms. JMIR research protocols, 2(2), e30. JMIR Publications 10.2196/resprot.2417

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BACKGROUND

The majority of radiological reports are lacking a standard structure. Even within a specialized area of radiology, each report has its individual structure with regards to details and order, often containing too much of non-relevant information the referring physician is not interested in. For gathering relevant clinical key parameters in an efficient way or to support long-term therapy monitoring, structured reporting might be advantageous.

OBJECTIVE

Despite of new technologies in medical information systems, medical reporting is still not dynamic. To improve the quality of communication in radiology reports, a new structured reporting system was developed for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), intended to enhance professional communication by providing the pertinent clinical information in a predefined standard.

METHODS

Actual state analysis was performed within the departments of radiology and vascular surgery by developing a Technology Acceptance Model. The SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis focused on optimization of the radiology reporting of patients with AAA. Definition of clinical parameters was achieved by interviewing experienced clinicians in radiology and vascular surgery. For evaluation, a focus group (4 radiologists) looked at the reports of 16 patients. The usability and reliability of the method was validated in a real-world test environment in the field of radiology.

RESULTS

A Web-based application for radiological "structured reporting" (SR) was successfully standardized for AAA. Its organization comprises three main categories: characteristics of pathology and adjacent anatomy, measurements, and additional findings. Using different graphical widgets (eg, drop-down menus) in each category facilitate predefined data entries. Measurement parameters shown in a diagram can be defined for clinical monitoring and be adducted for quick adjudications. Figures for optional use to guide and standardize the reporting are embedded. Analysis of variance shows decreased average time required with SR to obtain a radiological report compared to free-text reporting (P=.0001). Questionnaire responses confirm a high acceptance rate by the user.

CONCLUSIONS

The new SR system may support efficient radiological reporting for initial diagnosis and follow-up for AAA. Perceived advantages of our SR platform are ease of use, which may lead to more accurate decision support. The new system is open to communicate not only with clinical partners but also with Radiology Information and Hospital Information Systems.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology and Nuclear Medicine (DRNN) > Institute of Diagnostic, Interventional and Paediatric Radiology

UniBE Contributor:

von Tengg-Kobligk, Hendrik

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

1929-0748

Publisher:

JMIR Publications

Language:

English

Submitter:

Aisha Stefania Mzinga

Date Deposited:

13 May 2014 08:21

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:34

Publisher DOI:

10.2196/resprot.2417

PubMed ID:

23956062

Uncontrolled Keywords:

abdominal aortic aneurysms, radiology, structured reporting, vascular surgery

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.52280

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/52280

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