[owenpalmer]

I had an MRI on my ankle several years ago. At first glance, the doctor told me there was nothing wrong, even though I had very painful symptoms. While the visit was unproductive, I requested the MRI images on a CD, just because I was curious (I wanted to reconstruct the layers into a 3D model). After receiving the data in the mail weeks later, I was surprised to find a formal diagnosis on the CD. Apparently a better doctor had gotten around to analyzing it (they never followed up). If I hadn't requested my records, I never would have gotten a diagnosis. I had a swollen retrocalcaneal bursa. I googled the treatments, and eventually got better.

I'm curious whether this AI model would have been able to detect my issue more competently than the shitty doctor.

[rasmus1610]

To be honest, I heard of several radiology practices that hand the patients a normal report directly after the exam and they look at the actual images only after the patient has left.

I guess the reasoning is that they want to provide „good service“ by giving the patient something to work with directly after the exam and the workload is so high that they couldn’t look at the images so fast. And they accept the risk that some people are getting angry because their exam wasn’t normal in the end.

But on the scale a typical radiology practice operates today, the few patients who don’t have a normal exam don’t matter (the number of normal exams in an outpatient setting is quite high).

I find it highly unethical, but some radiologists are a little bit more ethically relaxed I guess.

What I want to say is that it might be more of a structural/organisational problem than incompetence by the radiologist in your case.

(Disclaimer: I’m a radiologist myself)

[HPsquared]

This is one of those comments where I started thinking "oh come on no way, this guy clearly has no idea what he's talking about" then read the last part and realization dawned the world is actually a very messy place.

[lostlogin]

How did this happen?

Surely your results went to a requesting physician who should have been following up with you? Radiology doctors don’t usually organise follow up care.

Or was the inaccurate result from the requesting physician?

[owenpalmer]

I don't know, just incompetence and disorganization on their part. Directly after my MRI, they told me the images didn't indicate any meaningful information.

[rscho]

You got lost in the mess of files and admin. The process is usually that you get the exam, they give you a first impression orally. Then they really get to work and look properly, and produce a written report, which the requesting doc will use for treatment decisions. At that point, they're supposed to get back to you, but apparently someone dropped you along the way.

[jeffxtreme]

Yet they still managed to give them the CD with the diagnosis... Such a strange process

[rscho]

Very likely because radio did their work correctly (with the misfortune of a wrong prelim assessment), but the requesting doc either forgot or chose not to act on the results. Or results were not transmitted correctly, so the requesting doc never was aware... many things can go wrong in collaborative work. Anyways, a communication issue for sure.

[quantumwoke]

The radiographer or the radiologist? Did you see your requesting doctor afterwards?