Radiographer reports could help emergency doctors

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-08-27 03:00

New Zealand

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Radiographers who collect X-rays could also provide a 'preliminary image evaluation' to help emergency doctors make healthcare decisions. This practice already exists in other countries with shortages of radiologists, the doctors who analyse medical images, but a six-month trial with seven radiographers at two Taranaki hospitals has shown similar or higher performance to overseas studies, with performance improving over the trial period. The radiographers also identified some recent abnormalities that were missed by the reporting radiologists, and the study authors say this shows preliminary image evaluation combined with a later radiology report can improve accuracy. They conclude that preliminary evaluations by radiographers in NZ could help ED doctors when radiology reports are unavailable, and that the radiographers could receive training and ongoing feedback to maintain their performance.