BACKGROUND: The study objective was to compare the accuracy of radiograph interpretation by emergency and family physicians with radiologists' overreadings. METHODS: We undertook a historical chart review of patients seen consecutively during a 1-year period at an inner-city emergency department of a medium-volume community hospital. The participants were a racially mixed group of 22,141 patients for whom 12,083 radiographs had been ordered. We compared interpretations by emergency and family physicians with those of radiologists who performed overreadings within 24 hours. This intervention was performed retrospectively. Measurements consisted of descriptive statistics, such as percentages and chi-square analysis. RESULTS: The main result was an overall discrepancy rate (ODR) of 1.1 percent. This figure is significantly different (P < 0.0001) from the lowest reported overall discrepancy rate to date (2.8 percent). CONCLUSIONS: Consistently low overall discrepancy rates have specific implications for the medical practice and reimbursement of primary care physicians for radiograph interpretation.
BACKGROUND: The study objective was to compare the accuracy of radiograph interpretation by emergency and family physicians with radiologists' overreadings. METHODS: We undertook a historical chart review of patients seen consecutively during a 1-year period at an inner-city emergency department of a medium-volume community hospital. The participants were a racially mixed group of 22,141 patients for whom 12,083 radiographs had been ordered. We compared interpretations by emergency and family physicians with those of radiologists who performed overreadings within 24 hours. This intervention was performed retrospectively. Measurements consisted of descriptive statistics, such as percentages and chi-square analysis. RESULTS: The main result was an overall discrepancy rate (ODR) of 1.1 percent. This figure is significantly different (P < 0.0001) from the lowest reported overall discrepancy rate to date (2.8 percent). CONCLUSIONS: Consistently low overall discrepancy rates have specific implications for the medical practice and reimbursement of primary care physicians for radiograph interpretation.
Authors: Björn Mattsson; David Ertman; Aristomenis Konstantinos Exadaktylos; Luca Martinolli; Wolf E Hautz Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2018-01-13 Impact factor: 2.692