Published on the June 9, 2016, DiagnosticImaging.com website
By Whitney L.J. Howell
In radiology, there’s no more important – no closer relationship – than the one between the radiologist and the radiologic technologist (RT). You work together day-in and day-out, but there’s no guarantee that your partnership is as healthy as it should be.
According to industry experts, effective radiologist-RT work habits should share some of the same characteristics, enabling those pairs to provide quality patient care. But, radiology has changed drastically over the past 25 years, and stumbling blocks challenge how smoothly your daily interactions will be in today’s environment.
“I remember the days of film in the 1990s when technologists would come into the reading room and hang the film,” said Paul Nagy, PhD, associate professor of radiology and radiological sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “It was great because of the cross-section of interaction that happened when the radiologists looked at the film and gathered information from the tech for diagnostic purposes. But, there are several strains on the relationship today.”
There are strategies in place that are working to fortify the partnership, though, because this interaction is necessary to produce an actionable radiology report.
“The radiologist is very dependent upon the technologist to get the most information from patients,” said Michael Delvecchio, technical director of radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “It helps them get better reads and provide a better diagnosis.”
To read the remainder of the article at its original location: http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/practice-management/challenges-radiologist-technologist-relationship
