Automated follow-up ensures response to abnormal findings

When a patient comes into a facility for a diagnostic imaging exam, the interpreting physician reads the study and notes abnormal findings in the report. The staff contacts the referring clinician directly with the results, and then waits for the referrer to follow-up. Some of these requests for follow-up due to abnormal results fall through the cracks, but a team at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Baltimore has created an automated application to ensure that none of its follow-up requests are overlooked.