Patient, Referring Physician, and Radiologist Opinions Over Time on Providing Patients Access to Radiology Reports: A Systematic Review

Objective: Patients increasingly have access to their radiology reports. This systematic review examined the opinions of patients, referring physicians, and radiologists over time on providing patients full access to their radiology reports.

Methods: A systematic review examining quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines (PROSPERO CRD42023466502). Our search was conducted through September 30, 2023, and spanned five databases (CINAHL Plus, Web of Science, ProQuest, PubMed, and Scopus). The studies included were peer-reviewed journal articles about the opinions of patients, referring physicians, or radiologists regarding giving patients unrestricted access to their radiology reports.

Results: After screening 4,520 articles, the full texts of 439 studies were assessed for eligibility. Thirty-three studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies showed that, over time, patients have consistently expressed a strong desire to access radiology reports, and referring physicians and radiologists have varied opinions about patient access to radiology reports. The main advantages of patient access found in the studies were enhanced understanding and empowerment and increased patient-physician engagement and communication. The main disadvantages were difficulties in patients understanding reports and patient anxiety from accessing reports. Referring physicians' opinions and radiologists' opinions were found in less than 20% (six studies) and 10% (three studies), respectively.

Discussion: The studies show patients have desired access to radiology reports over time. Future research should elicit the opinions of referring physicians and radiologists to enable a more informed design of patient access to radiology reports.