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The Radiologist’s Duty

The duty of the radiologist is not limited to detecting and reporting pertinent findings following a radiologic study. The radiologist’s duty extends to ensuring that the report was received, understood and acted upon, as well as ensuring that active communication and information exchange between the healthcare providers occurs. Of particular concern are abnormal or critical findings in radiology reports.

A radiologist is an inevitable defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a radiology “miss,” but any physician who fails to communicate or act on a critical radiological finding is also a potential defendant.

Many radiology claims involve fragmented care and lack of reliable information with which to support clinical decisions, which leads to patient injury. Quality improvement programs (QIP) can increase patient safety, decrease liability risk and increase practice revenue.¹

With many radiology cases, it is only in hindsight — with the knowledge that there is, in fact, an abnormality — that the abnormality can then be identified by comparison.¹ Consider how the outcome of this case might have been different if the second radiologist had more thoughtfully reported the discrepancies in imaging interpretation.

Incidental findings of lung nodules are common and frequently missed. Many of these missed nodules are clinically irrelevant.¹ However, when a patient who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer discovers there was an unreported incidental finding during a period when the lung cancer was treatable, a negligence claim is likely. Consider how improved communication could have affected the outcome of the following radiology case study.