Audit of radiology request forms –“Are they adequately filled?”

Abstract

The easiest and best way of communication between the Clinician and Radiologist is the radiograph request form. The physician seeking answers from the radiologist should give his requisites and relevant clinical data on the request form. Such a dialogue helps in diagnosis and patient management effectively. The present communication is an attempt to outline the adequacy of information on the request forms in different modalities in a multispecialty hospital. One hundered each of request forms from outpatient and inpatient services were selected at random. These requests were addressed to the Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) divisions of Department of Radiology, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad. The aim of the study was to audit the completeness and usefulness of these request forms. Clinical diagnosis was not given in 84 of the 200 forms (42 %) and clinical details were not mentioned in 124 forms (62 %). Patients’ age and sex were not given in a third of the forms (35 %). Interestingly 91 of the 200 forms (46 %) were signed by the nursing staff and not by the referring physician. In 20 % of the forms, the hand writing was not legible. Unacceptable abbreviations were used in majority of the forms. It became evident that the radiological investigation request forms are inadequately filled thus increasing the limitation of the radiologist to give an appropriate report. Keywords: Radiology request forms; Radiation; CT Scan; MRI