Analysis of the availability and completeness of previous radiological examinations related to plain films

Purpose. To evaluate the availability and completeness of previous radiolog ical examinations. Material and Methods. Seven different types of examinations were analysed s eparately: 1) chest examinations, 2) bedside chest examinations, 3) skeleta l examinations, 4) angiographic examinations, 5) mammographic examinations, 6) CT examinations, and 7) MR examinations. A retrospective part of the st udy covered the calendar year 1997, while a prospective part referred to 19 98. The sample size in each modality and each part of the study was 100 obs ervations, resulting in a total number of 1,400 examinations. Results. The average availability and completeness of radiographs in the re trospective analysis was 96.9% in 1997. The average availability and comple teness of radiographs in the prospective analysis was 85.5% for the year 19 98. This applied to necessary previous examinations of the same or differen t modality irrespective whether the examination was conducted internally or externally. Conclusion: The real loss rate of radiographs derived from the retrospectiv e investigation was 3.1%. The prospective part of the study showed that 14. 5% of the required previous internal and external examinations of the same or different modality were not available completely and in time to the exam ining radiologist.