New data presented at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting in 2014 finds patients respond positively to having direct access to their medical images.
Approximately 2,500 patients enrolled in a study between July 2012 and August 2013 in which they were eligible to establish online personal health record accounts on the RSNA Image Share network. The patients could use those accounts to store and share images with selected providers.
The vast majority of patients — 96 percent — had positive responses to having direct access to their medical images. What's more, 78 percent of patients viewed their images independently.
"We found almost unanimous agreement from patients on the value of having direct, independent access to their imaging exams," said Giampaolo Greco, PhD, assistant professor in the department of population health science and policy at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and a researcher in the study. "Easy and timely electronic access to an online unified source of radiologic exams under a patient's direct control can potentially improve healthcare quality, enhance the patient's engagement in their medical care and reduce unnecessary imaging utilization and exposure to ionizing radiation."
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