According to a recent study published by Journal of the American College of Radiology, patients may not fully understand the role of a radiologist, but they do find value in immediately discussing their imaging results directly with an expert.

Nii Koney, MD, MBA, of Mount Sinai West radiology department, and colleagues examined anonymous surveys completed by more than 600 adult patients from April 2015 to May 2015. (More than 160 additional surveys were received, but had not been properly completed. They were not used in the analysis.)

The surveys asked patients about their own knowledge of a radiologist’s role in patient care, benefits they see in reviewing imaging results with an expert, and if they would be willing to pay to do so.

“Understanding the preferences and perceptions of a range of patient populations is an important step toward designing programs to facilitate direct-to-patient communication,” the authors wrote. “The aim of this study is to assess awareness of the role of radiologists in medicine, and the preferences and perceptions of a medically underserved demographic toward direct-to-patient reporting of imaging results.”

Overall, the team found that just 20 percent of respondents correctly identified the role a radiologist was playing in their care. Only 28 percent said radiologists were doctors, while 50 percent equated radiologists with technologists.

“A higher education level and older age were correlated with increased accuracy in identifying radiologists as doctors who interpret imaging results, generate reports, and discuss findings with their referring doctor,” the authors wrote.

The data also showed that 81 percent of respondents were interested in reviewing their results with an expert, a trend that was true in all demographic segments. In addition, 88 percent of respondents said they believed reviewing images with an expert would be beneficial, and 85 percent said they thought it would help them better understand their body and/or have more control over their health.

Koney and colleagues noted that while many respondents did not understand what a radiologist does, a high majority of respondents clearly do value the opinion of discussing their results with “imaging experts.” This, they explained, is a promising sign for the profession.

“We contend that we, as radiologists, have an opportunity to establish our presence in direct patient care and demonstrate value to our most important stakeholders, our patients,” the authors wrote. “In order to best accomplish this, radiologists should consider defining themselves as imaging experts, so as to convey our role in the care pathway more accurately to our patients and to the community at large. The necessary changes in culture, training, workflow, and coordination with referring physicians that are required to accommodate direct-to-patient and immediate communication of results will be substantial. However, the increasing importance of shared decision making between patients and physicians–to achieve improved outcomes, quality metrics, including patient satisfaction, and the need to demonstrate value of radiology–outweigh these costs.”

The authors also asked participants to provide some basic demographic information. According to the data, 71 percent of the surveys were completed by female patients, and 71 percent of the patients said English was their primary language.

Koney et al. added that their study did have some limitations. First, they said the survey was designed for this specific study, so a “more robustly validated questionnaire” may be helpful in future studies. Also, since the surveys were passed out in specific waiting rooms, it may not accurately reflect the perception of patients throughout the country.

Previous coverage examining the public perception of radiologists can be found here.