Photos on scans may make radiologists more empathetic, says RSNA

Chicago, December 3: Including patient's photo with medical reports can help radiologists strike a bond of empathy with patients, say researchers, thereby generating more detailed reports.

Radiologists are generally accused of lacking empathy with individual patients and Yehonatan N. Turner, M.D., from Shaare Zedek Medical Center at Jerusalem suggested that a photo in record files can make them relate better to the patient for whom they are generating reports.

Dr. Turner, addressing a meeting of Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), quoted "Radiologists often review CT images at a later time, or from remote locations, and lack physician-patient contact. We thought maybe the addition of a photo would enable a more personal approach."

Dr. Turner considered 315 patients referred for a CT scan and compared their results to analyze the study subject, dividing the study into objective and subjective portions.

Patients were divided into three groups to study objective part. For the "face first" group, photos were included in files at the time of result interpretation. For the "face later" group, interpretations of scans were made without photos but three months later, photos were added to the file while third group was kept as a complete "no-photo" group.

Four parameters were judged by the researchers in those reports to conclude findings; total number of words in the report, number of incidental findings included, presence or absence of report's summary and further recommendations.

The reports found were considerably detailed for the "face first" group. In the "face later" group, reports were found far more detailed after photos were added. File with photos enabled more incidental findings, high possibility of summary reports and further recommendations, said Dr. Turner.

Subjective study included questionnaires, where radiologists were asked to opine about their interpretation on their association with a patient's photograph. Radiologists agreed that photos made them empathetic with the patient and made them "feel more like a physician." Most of them expressed their approval for photos on the reports.

However, Dr. Turner believes that face on file may possibly bring in favoritism or certain biases and the situation may be similar to "regular biases" as seen in medicine.

According to Katarzyna Macura, M.D., Ph.D., at Johns Hopkins, quoted that a larger number of patients may be required to analyze the influence of ethnicity on report diagnoses, however the results may not be necessarily noteworthy.

She further mentioned that HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance might cause difficulties in implementing this approach in the United States, where consent of patients may be required.

However, she agreed that results of this study were "important". "Radiologists are thought of as doctors who read in dark rooms who don't interact with patients. This study emphasizes that we are all humans and a photo adds personal one-on-one interaction," she said.