Communication of incidental imaging findings on inpatient discharge summaries after implementation of Electronic Health Record notification system (August 2024)

Summary

Incidental imaging findings (IIFs) are things that show up on a diagnostic image that are not related to the reason a healthcare professional ordered the test. Inadequate follow-up of IIFs can result in poor patient outcomes, patient dissatisfaction and provider malpractice. In an effort to improve awareness of IIFs, this study aimed to investigate communication of IIFs on inpatient discharge summaries after implementation of a new electronic health record (EHR) notification system.

The results showed that IIFs were included in 51% of discharge summaries. The authors identified that lack of inclusion of IIFs on discharge summaries could be related to transitions of care within hospitalisation, provider alert fatigue and many diagnostic testing results to distil. The findings demonstrate the need to improve communication of IIFs and the need for care coordinators to follow up on IIFs.

This year’s World Patient Safety Day on 17 September 2024 (WPSD 2024) is focused on the theme “Improving diagnosis for patient safety”. Find out more.