Study reports Cures Act tied to quicker release, access of imaging reports

Following Cures Act implementation, the time for patients to access imaging results decreased, while the proportion of patients who accessed their reports before the ordering provider increased, according to a study published online March 27 in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Jordan R. Pollock, from the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, and colleagues compared patient access of radiology reports before and after implementation of the information-blocking provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act. The analysis included 1.19 million examinations (388,921 patients) occurring in 2021 and 2022.

The researchers found that 77.5% of reports were accessed by the patient before implementation compared with 80.4% after implementation. Median time from report finalization to report release in the patient portal dropped from 36.0 hours before implementation to 0.4 hours after implementation, while median time from report release to first patient access in the portal dropped from 8.7 hours to 3.0 hours.

There was an increase seen in the percentage of reports that were accessed by the patient before the ordering provider, from a total of 18.5% before implementation to 44.0% after implementation. Median time from report release to first patient access was shorter in younger patients versus older patients (1.8 hours for patients younger than 60 years versus 4.3 hours for patients aged 60 years and older).

"Radiologists should consider mechanisms to ensure timely and appropriate communication of important findings to ordering providers," the authors write.

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