The use of Midlevels in image interpretation

[Steve_Zissou]

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Doc offices more than double use of nonphysicians for interpreting medical images

The Journal of the American College of Radiology analysis sparked a spirited discussion on social media Wednesday after it was published.

radiologybusiness.com

Continued increase in midlevels reading studies. Seems like it's not a big concern overall, given how little training they have, that they'll make any headway into the field. It seems like many surgeons want their midlevel reading particular things for them, which seems like a bad idea imo, but they'll pay their own price when the midlevels miss something large or subtle, both of which are likely happening regularly given my experience with residency so far and understanding just how difficult radiology is.

 

[GadRads]

Our urgent care reads their own X-rays but we over-read them. I have seen missed malignant bone tumors that would hardly be missed by a radiologist. And mind you, we are reading waaaaay more volume. When I read X-rays, I read 250+ in a day with hardly any meaningful history or physical exam data. They are very good at finding fractures though, but it helps when you know which area hurts and you have 3-5 minutes to perseverate on the X-ray. I would lose my job if I routinely spent 3+ minutes on any X-ray. Even my ortho surgeon friends are surprised by how fast I read MSK plain films, which isn't terribly fast compared to the average radiologist.