Patient Attitudes About Viewing Their Radiology Images Online: Preintervention Survey.

BACKGROUND: Although patient data is available through electronic portals, little information exists about the benefits and/or challenges of providing patients with online access to their radiology images. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this quality improvement project were to understand patient attitudes toward being able to view their radiology images online and determine how information should be presented to ensure the images are helpful to the patients, rather than causing confusion and anxiety. METHODS: An online survey of consumers was conducted to evaluate attitudes toward online access to personal radiological images. RESULTS: A total of 105 responses were received from 686 community members (15.3%). Of 105 consumers, 94 (89.5%) reported a desire to have access to the radiology images within their online patient portal; 86.7% (91/105) believed it would help them better understand their medical conditions and 81.0% (85/105) said this would help them feel more in control of their care. Most respondents (74/105, 70.5%) said it would help them feel reassured that their doctor was doing the right thing, and 63.8% (67/105) said it would increase their level of trust in their doctor. Among surveyed patients, 78.1% (82/105) valued viewing their radiology images online, while 92.4% (97/105) valued their online radiology reports. Most patients (69/105, 65.7%) wished to discuss their results with their ordering clinician, 29.5% (31/105) wished to discuss with their interpreting radiologist, and 3.8% (4/105) wished to share their images on social media. The biggest potential concern among 23.8% (25/105) was that the images would be confusing. CONCLUSIONS: A large majority of surveyed patients desired the ability to view their radiology images online and anticipated many benefits and few risks. Health care organizations with electronic health records and online patient portals should consider augmenting their existing portals with this highly desired feature. To avoid the biggest patient concern, radiology reports should accompany images. Patients wanted to discuss their results with their ordering physician and their interpreting radiologist. Some even would like to share results on social media. Further research on the actual experience with such a tool will be needed.

Understanding Patient Experiences, Opinions, and Actions Taken After Viewing Their Own Radiology Images Online: Web-Based Survey.

BACKGROUND: The ability for patients to directly view their radiology images through secure electronic portals is rare in the American health care system. We previously surveyed patients within our health system and found that a large majority wanted to view their own radiology images online, and we have since implemented this new feature. OBJECTIVE: We aim to understand patient experiences, opinions, and actions taken after viewing their own radiology images online. METHODS: We emailed a web-based survey to patients who recently viewed their radiology images via our electronic patient portal. RESULTS: We sent 1825 surveys to patients and received 299 responses (response rate 16.4%). Patients reported a favorable experience (258/299, 86.3% agree) viewing their radiology images online. Patients found value in reading their radiology reports (288/299, 96.3% agree) and viewing their images (267/299, 89.3% agree). Overall, patients felt that accessing and viewing their radiology images online increased their understanding of their medical condition (258/299, 82.9%), made them feel more in control and reassured (237/299, 79.2% and 220/299, 73.6%, respectively), and increased levels of trust (214/299, 71.6%). Only 6.4% (19/299) of the patients indicated concerns with finding errors, 6.4% (19/299) felt that viewing their images online made them worry more, and 7% (21/299) felt confused when viewing their images online. Of patients who viewed their images online, 45.2% (135/299) took no action with their images, 32.8% (98/299) saved a copy for their records, 25.4% (76/299) shared them with their doctor, and 14.7% (44/299) shared them with another doctor for a second opinion. A total of 9 patients (3%) shared their radiology images on Facebook, Instagram, or both, primarily to inform family and friends. Approximately 10.4% (31/299) of the patients had questions about their radiology images after viewing them online, with the majority (20/31, 65%) seeking out a doctor, and far fewer (5/31, 16%) choosing to ask a family member about their images. Finally, respondents viewed their images online using 1 or more devices, including computers, smartphones, tablets, or a combination of these devices. Approximately 26.7% (103/385) of the responses noted technical difficulties, with the highest incidence rate occurring with smartphones. CONCLUSIONS: We report the first known survey results from patients who viewed their own radiology images through a web-based portal. Patients reported high levels of satisfaction and increased levels of trust, autonomy, reassurance, and medical understanding. Only a small minority of patients expressed anxiety or confusion. We suggest that patient access to radiology images, such as patient access to radiology reports, is highly desired by patients and is operationally practical. Other health care institutions should consider offering patients access to their radiology images online in the pursuit of information transparency.