New research examines trends in radiology journal publications relating to patient-centered care

New research reports that the number of articles within radiology journals designated as dealing with patient-centered care has increased substantially in recent years, although a very limited number of radiology journals have published multiple original research articles on the topic. The study, supported by research grants from the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute, is published online in the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR).

The researchers searched PubMed for articles in radiology journals for which the article's record referenced patient-centered/patient-centric care. A total of 115 articles in radiology journals were identified, including 40 original research articles. The number of articles annually ranged from zero to four from 2000 through 2008, five to nine from 2010 through 2012, 14 to 15 from 2013 through 2014, and 25 in 2015. Only four radiology journals had published more than one of the original research articles.

"We found that the most common themes of those 40 articles were optimization of patients' access to reports and images; patients' experience in undergoing the examination; image evaluation; and radiologists meeting with patients," noted Andrew Rosenkrantz, MD, MPA, lead study author and a Neiman Institute affiliate research fellow. "We also found some of the studies dealt with less clearly patient-centric topics such as examination interpretation."

Rosenkrantz, an associate professor of radiology at NYU Langone Medical Center, added that one of the original research articles involved patients in educating trainees regarding patient-centered care. Otherwise, no original research article involved patients in system-level decisions regarding health care design and delivery.

"Including patients and families in what we do as radiologists is just the right thing to do. It enables better care for our patients and a better experience for them and their families. It's about a very different bottom line-engaging patients in their own care," said James V. Rawson, MD, FACR, a member of the Neiman Institute's advisory board and chair of radiology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. "Increased visibility of this important topic in our professional journals will help disseminate best practices."