Radiology reporting in rectal cancer using MRI: adherence to national template for structured reporting

BACKGROUND: In 2014, a national workshop program was initiated and a reporting template and manual for rectal cancer primary staging using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was introduced and made available by the national Swedish Colorectal Cancer Registry. PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of the national template program by identify if there was a gap between the content in Swedish MRI reports from 2016 and the national reporting template from 2014. The aim was to explore and compare differences in content in reporting practice in different hospitals in relation to the national reporting template, with focus on: (i) identifying any implementational differences in reporting styles; and (ii) evaluating if reporting completeness vary based on such implementational differences. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 250 MRI reports from 10 hospitals in four healthcare regions in Sweden were collected. Reports were analyzed using qualitative content analysis with a deductive thematic coding scheme based on the national reporting template. RESULTS: Three different implemented reporting styles were identified with variations of content coverage in relation to the template: (i) standardized and structured protocol (reporting style A); (ii) standardized semi-structured free-text (reporting style B); and (iii) regular free-text (reporting style C). The relative completeness of reporting practice of rectal cancer staging in relation to the national reporting template were 92.9% for reporting style A, 77.5% for reporting style B, and 63.9% for reporting style C. CONCLUSION: The implementation of template-based reporting according to reporting style A is a key factor to conform to evidence-based practice for rectal cancer reporting using MRI.