Innovative standardized reporting template for prostate mpMRI improves clarity and confidence in the report

Purpose The goal of the current study was to evaluate the effect of a standardized prostate mpMRI reporting template on urologists’ understanding and confidence in counselling a patient on the results of the MRI. To do this we performed a survey study to assess the understanding and confidence of urologists reviewing reports prior to (pre) and after (post) adoption of a standardized mpMRI template. Methods Six urologists reviewed ten pre- and post- mpMRI templated reports and completed a survey to assess the clarity of key elements and the confidence in counseling the patient. The urologists were blinded to the study objective. Nonparametric constrained permutation test for significance was performed to compare the results prior to and after implementation of the template. Results 29 pre- and 30 post-template mpMRI reports were reviewed. The average score for the post-template reports was significantly higher (10.7 ± 0.6 vs 7.5 ± 2.7 [ p < 0.001]) regardless of the reviewer. Urologists were also overall more confident in counselling patients when the standardized mpMRI reporting template had been used. Conclusion Implementation of a standardized template for reporting of prostate mpMRI findings resulted in improved clarity and confidence in counselling patients. Radiologists should consider implementing a standardized reporting template to improve clinicians’ understanding and confidence of the report.