Radiologists have minimal direct contact with patients, but steps are being taken to change that. How impactful is direct contact with radiologists on patient experience and their perception of radiologists? A team of researchers looked for answers, publishing findings in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Twenty-seven patients at a high-volume head and neck clinic were surveyed before and after experiencing a one-on-one consultation with a radiologist, who explained the role of radiology in patient care and reviewed the patient’s images.

While 41 percent of patients understood the radiologist’s role before the consultation, that number jumped to 67 percent after the consultation. Also, 56 percent of patients said they only wanted to hear from their referring physician when surveyed before the consultation. That number decreased to 22 percent after meeting the radiologist in person.

In addition, 26 percent of the patients wanted to hear from the radiologist only when they were surveyed before the consultation. That number increased to 44 percent after the consultation.

Overall, after the consultation, 78 percent of patients wanted to hear from their radiologist, and 93 percent of patients expressed an interest in reviewing future studies with a radiologist. In all, 96 percent of patients surveyed found the consultation helpful.

The authors, led by Sheila K. Mohan, MD, of the department of radiology and imaging sciences at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, said implementing a model of care that allows for radiologists to directly consult with patients can be difficult because of the constricting factors including the proximity of the reading room to patients.

A factor that made this specific study possible was reading rooms embedded within the clinic. This set-up, the authors noted, provides physical proximity and access to patients while also allowing radiologists to see patients as part of the clinical encounter with their head and neck surgery provider.

“Direct patient reporting of imaging results by a radiologist is feasible, even in a high-volume outpatient head and neck clinic, because it typically requires only 10 minutes or less,” the authors wrote. “With our reading room embedded in the clinic, physical barriers to direct reporting are improved, and the referring clinician and radiologist can efficiently develop management plans.

“Patients had an improved understanding of imaging results and how they affected management. The post-consultation shift to more patients wanting to hear results from both the head and neck surgeon and radiologist supports a multidisciplinary, collaborative team approach.”