Evaluation of radiological contribution to patient management: the orthopedist's point of view

Abstract

Background Orthopedists prefer imaging studies for the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of patients. Purpose To determine the effect of orthopedists’ characteristics, including subspecialty, age, education, and professional experience, in collaboration with radiologists and the usefulness of radiology reports for orthopedists in diagnosis and patient management. Material and Methods Questionnaires, consisting of 21 questions investigating the orthopedists’ characteristics, their behavior with radiology reports, their thoughts on communication, and collaboration with radiologists, were distributed to 205 orthopedists. Descriptive analysis was performed, and the effects of orthopedist characteristics on the outcomes was evaluated. Results In total, 161 out of 205 enrolled participants were included in the analysis. A total of 156 (96.9%) participants stated that they reviewed at least one official radiology report, with MRI receiving the highest rate (92.4%). The main reason provided for not reviewing the radiology reports and requests regarding changes to radiology report formats seemed to be mostly related to time pressure. Despite a significant portion of the participants stating that clinical and surgical findings were inconsistent with radiology reports, less than half were inclined to contact the radiologist most of the time or always. Increasing age ( P = 0.005), experience ( P = 0.016), and university hospital specialization ( P = 0.007) increased the tendency to form multidisciplinary team meetings. Communication with radiologists increased with age ( P < 0.001), while more experience reduced the impact of radiology reports on decision-making ( P = 0.035). Conclusion Increasing cooperation between orthopedists and radiologists will make a significant contribution to decision-making and treatment processes. Orthopedists’ characteristics are influential factors in establishing this communication.