Actionable Findings in Radiology
What are Actionable Findings in Radiology?
Radloop fills a major gap in patient care
An actionable finding (AF) is a finding on a medical imaging report that requires further evaluation. AFs include critical findings (CF) and non-critical incidental findings (IF).
According to the ACR white paper on parameters for communication of diagnostic imaging findings:
“Critical findings suggest a need for immediate or urgent intervention.
Incidental findings are those that the interpreting physician believes are significant and unexpected, may have a reasonable probability of impacting the patients’ health, and may not require immediate attention but, if not acted on, may worsen over time and likely result in an adverse patient outcome.”
Average of
%
of all exams with recommendations are lost to follow up
Up to
%
of these lost exams will be performed
What are Critical Findings & what’s the difference?
Critical Findings (CF) are a subcategory of Actionable Findings (AF) that suggest a need for more immediate intervention. Critical findings often require physicians to make an urgent phone call or other form of direct, non-routine contact to the ordering provider about a pathology requiring immediate intervention. The types of findings, defined as critical, are determined by an institutional committee of physicians. While important, these findings are best-handled directly clinician-to-clinician, while non-critical actionable findings often don’t have the same level of closed-loop communication and follow-up.
Radloop focuses on actionable, non-critical findings, such as incidental findings. These require diligent follow-up care, but the current systems are not set up to ensure closed-loop communication with patients and providers. The Radloop application targets these important results that are at a higher risk of falling through the cracks.
Failure to Comply
An average of 26% of all exams with actionable recommendations are lost to follow-up. Failure to follow-up may result in poor outcomes for patients. We have a responsibility to ensure patients are aware of their findings and plan for further radiologic or non-radiologic monitoring if indicated. Early detection of disease improves patient outcomes, so we need a system that reliably notifies physicians and patients of their findings.
The Radloop Solution:
Radloop Actionable Findings
Radloop fills a major care gap in patient care. Incidental findings are managed differently than critical findings but deserve the same attention and diligence. Although not necessarily significant today, incidental findings may have a big impact on a patient’s health in the future.
Radloop’s algorithm automatically finds important incidental findings in the text of radiology reports and extracts them to ensure proper follow-up. Patients are notified of findings and scheduled for follow-up if necessary. We integrate seamlessly with EMRs and can also be accessed through our own platform. Radloop ensures reliable closure of actionable incidental findings.
What Radloop Can Do
Minimize Clinician Exposure & Risk using Radloop’s Actionable Findings Solution
Radloop’s Actionable Findings (AF) solution helps reduce clinician risk by standardizing patient follow-up communication and coordinating care. Radloop’s AI captures all actionable findings and ensures recommended follow-up occurs in a timely manner. Radloop AF is HIPAA-compliant and interfaces with all major electronic health systems (EHRs). This ensures that actions are captured and documented on both the Radloop platform and in the EHR to provide medical-legal protection in the unfortunate event of an adverse patient outcome. Fundamentally, radiologists notice important findings and the Radloop AF solution ensures these findings are acted upon in a timely manner through a customized platform. “Taking better care of our patients is the best form of legal risk reduction.”
An Automated Report Workflow
Radloop automates many aspects of the manual process involved in flagging, communicating, and following up on actionable findings. Once a radiology report is generated by the radiologist, it is automatically fed through the Radloop AI engine. The AI analyzes the report for any actionable findings with industry-leading accuracy. These results are then presented on a real-time navigational dashboard to ensure action is taken and follow-up is complete. The custom-built workflows are flexible to accommodate as much automation as desired, allowing sites to interact with patients as they choose via letter, text, or email. As follow-up recommendations are completed, the navigational dashboard is automatically updated. This provides users the ability to focus on the recommendations requiring additional action.
Improve Radiology Report Tracking to Increase Revenue
Radloop supports organizations to increase revenue by reducing patients lost to follow-up and facilitates care coordination via specialty/screening clinics. Thus, increasing the efficiency of patients’ access to downstream care. Timely follow-up care can be the key difference in managing a stage one versus stage four cancer. Radloop Actionable Findings application saves payors and healthcare systems revenue, reduces the risk of malpractice lawsuits, lowers malpractice premiums over time, and bolsters the reputation of the healthcare organization. Radloop AF – “Smart Solutions that Coordinate Care.”
Data Tracking for Actionable Findings in Radiology
Radloop adheres to the highest standard of HIPAA compliance. The platform utilizes the Amazon Web Services HIPAA-compliant cloud data system and we are SOC2 Type2 certified. Interoperability between electronic health records and the Radloop platform also follows rigorous security standards. Protecting patient data is our highest priority and we are continually updating our security structures.
Next Steps for Patients
After being informed of their actionable finding, patients are scheduled to return for further care as indicated. This care may be further radiologic imaging or other testing as needed, such as colonoscopies, cardiac catheterizations, surgical consultations, etc. The Radloop AF customizable dashboard allows systems to develop targeted clinics and efficient healthcare for patients.
Who does Radloop AF benefit?
Radloop benefits many important stakeholders, including radiology practices, hospital systems, outpatient clinicians, emergency rooms, health insurance companies, and most importantly patients. In addition to improving patient care, Radloop also can help to reduce malpractice risk, avoid reputational damage, bolster physician-patient relations, reduce physician burnout, and increase radiology revenue. Our platform aims to improve the whole radiology care ecosystem for physicians, patients, and other stakeholders.
Hospital
Systems
Outpatient
Radiology
Outpatient
Clinicians
ER
Departments
Why work with Radloop?
Automate MIPs Extraction
Radloop is an industry-leading platform that represents the future of modern healthcare. We are on a mission to solve a major gap in healthcare today. We leverage the power of AI and natural language processing to improve patient care and lower the burden on our healthcare professionals. We have years of experience working with radiology practices, billing companies, insurance companies, and hospitals to implement robust interoperable communication . We integrate seamlessly with EMRs and have a dedicated, responsive team to help make Radloop the best solution for your situation. At Radloop, we are at the forefront of using healthcare data to improve patient outcomes
Stay in the Loop.
A smarter way to coordinate care.
A smarter way to coordinate care.