With structured reporting systems, databases tied to the reporting software allow a radiologist to request a list of likely diagnoses that might explain imaging findings. Automatic report coding and charge-capture can also be incorporated to automatically match report content. Once these lexicons are defined, physicians can click through their dictation and automatically generate a report containing text and images. Reports can be electronically signed and made available to referring physicians, clinical data repositories, and electronic medical systems via the Internet. The product is being used at a beta site in Philadelphia and will be commercially available later this year.
Speech recognition is one option, and structured reporting is another.
Both will be considered by practices as they reengineer their reporting. Like speech recognition, structured reporting has problems to overcome, including physician resistance to using computers. Radiologists are accustomed to viewing an image on lightbox or workstation while dictating findings. In structured reporting, and also to a lesser extent with SR systems, radiologists may need to look away from the image intermittently to view the reporting interface. PACS and RIS vendors have expressed interest in partnering with structured reporting developers, in hopes of collaborating on integrated systems.