Communicating findings: a justification and framework for direct radiologic disclosure to patients.

Abstract

Radiologists' delivery of imaging results to patients remains controversial. One model of communication suggests limiting disclosure to normal results. We argue that disclosing radiologic findings to patients is justified in all categories of results. Once a doctor-patient relationship has been established, we claim that it is morally justifiable for radiologists to communicate findings directly to their patients. The practice guidelines that we advocate employ a sliding scale based on the diagnostic confidence of imaging results.