Standardized Reporting and Management of Suspicious Findings on Chest CT Imaging Is Associated With Improved Lung Cancer Diagnosis in an Observational Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Follow-up of chest CT scan findings suspicious for lung cancer may be delayed because of inadequate documentation. Standardized reporting and follow-up may reduce time to diagnosis and care for lung cancer.

Study design and methods

We implemented a reporting system that standardizes tagging of chest CT scan reports by classifying pulmonary findings. The system also automates referral of patients with findings suspicious for lung cancer to a multidisciplinary care team for rapid review and follow-up. The system was designed to reduce the time to diagnosis, particularly for early-stage lung cancer. We evaluated the effectiveness of this system, using a quasi-experimental stepped wedge cluster design, examining 99,148 patients who underwent diagnostic (nonscreening)

SUBMITTER: Urbania TH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7783862 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature