From traditional reading rooms to a soft copy environment: Radiologist satisfaction survey

Academic radiologists are experiencing increased clinical workloads. New technology such as picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) are often justified on the premise of increased efficiency. The authors believe that efficiency can be influenced by the image interpretation environment, and thus they set out to establish baseline satisfaction levels with this environment. The authors surveyed 90 Indiana University (IU) faculty radiologists, fellows, and residents. Their survey was implemented with a questionnaire sent via e-mail. Questions focused on satisfaction with the current soft-copy reading environments and preferences regarding improvements. Of the 90 radiologists surveyed, 55 (61%) responded. Several key findings emerged: (1) Overall satisfaction with the soft-copy environment is low, with nearly half (46%) of respondents rating themselves as "very dissatisfied" or "dissatisfied." (2) Faculty are least satisfied regarding work space ergonomics, room layout, and amount of work space. Appropriate lighting also emerged as an area with low satisfaction and high importance. (3) Ninety-eight percent of respondents indicated that an "ideal" soft-copy environment would have a positive effect on their efficiency. The dissatisfaction with the current soft-copy interpretation environments used by the IU radiologists indicates that this is an area that requires attention. Furthermore, there may be a direct relationship between radiologist efficiency and satisfaction with the image interpretation environment. Attention should be focused on this environment during a soft-copy technology implementation to ensure that planned efficiency gains are realized.