Medical imaging data reconciliation, part 3: reconciliation of historical and current radiology report data.

Correlation of historical imaging and radiology report data with the current imaging data set is a critical step in the radiologic interpretation process and, if incomplete, can adversely affect diagnostic accuracy. In its current form, the extraction and analysis of historical imaging and report data is limited by manual workflow, inefficient data organization, and a lack of imaging and report data integration. The reconciliation of historical and contemporaneous radiology report data provides an opportunity to improve the consistency, completeness, and accuracy of radiology report data, while providing opportunities to automate workflow related to data extraction, interpretation, and peer review. The derived data analytics can in turn be used to facilitate physician consultations, education and training, and proactive intervention in the event of report discrepancies.