Whitney Palmer

To Avoid Malpractice, Radiologists Must Communicate

Published on the Dec. 22, 2014, DiagnosticImaging.com website

By Whitney L.J. Howell

CHICAGO — With the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) still ongoing and the move toward some type of accountable care organization model still underway, it’s unclear how radiology will fare in any medical malpractice lawsuits.

But, industry experts at this year’s Radiological Society of North America meeting all point to one key component of financial survival – communication. Communication with referring physicians, the patient, and each other.

“You have to remember there are three factors to communication – the referring physician, the radiologist, and the patient,” said Leonard Berlin, MD, a radiologist with NorthShore University Health System. “Communication is the link between all three. It’s obviously a real problem when there’s a failure to communicate emergency or acute findings, but it’s significant that there’s a large amount of significant and unexpected findings that don’t get communicated either.”

To read the article in its entirety at its original location: http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/rsna-2014/avoid-malpractice-radiologists-must-communicate

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