Department of Radiology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht.
Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2009 Oct;25(4):505-13. doi: 10.1017/S0266462309990377.
The aim of this study was to assess the costs and effects of using specialized breast technologists in prereading mammograms to reduce the increasing workload of radiologists in daily clinical practice. Mammography is the most widely used imaging modality for early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer.
A total of 1389 mammograms of consecutive patients were evaluated by two technologists trained in mammogram interpretation. The costs and effects of four different experimental strategies of prereading mammograms by technologists were analyzed by decision analytic modeling and compared with the conventional strategy of standard evaluation by the radiologist on duty.
Overall, the employment of technologists in this patient population resulted in a potential time saving up to 73 percent (1019/1389) for the radiologist. No additional false-negative imaging results were found as compared to the conventional strategy. The total diagnostic costs in the conventional strategy were determined at euro150,602. The experimental strategies resulted in cost savings up to 17.2 percent (range, euro122,494-euro139,781).
The employment of technologists in prereading mammograms in a clinical patient population could be effective to reduce the workload of radiologists without jeopardizing the detection of malignancies. Furthermore, diagnostic costs can be reduced considerably.
本研究旨在评估在预读乳腺 X 光片中使用专业乳腺技师的成本和效果，以减轻放射科医生在日常临床实践中不断增加的工作量。乳腺 X 光摄影是用于早期发现和诊断乳腺癌最广泛使用的影像学方法。
对两位经过乳腺 X 光摄影判读培训的技师进行了连续的 1389 例乳腺 X 光片的评估。通过决策分析模型分析了由技师进行预读乳腺 X 光片的四种不同实验策略的成本和效果，并与放射科医生常规的标准评估策略进行了比较。
总的来说，在这个患者群体中使用技师可以为放射科医生节省高达 73%（1019/1389）的潜在时间。与常规策略相比，没有发现额外的假阴性影像学结果。在常规策略中，总的诊断成本为 150602 欧元。实验策略可节省高达 17.2%（范围为 122494 欧元至 139781 欧元）的成本。
在临床患者群体中使用技师进行预读乳腺 X 光片可以有效地减轻放射科医生的工作量，而不会危及恶性肿瘤的检测。此外，诊断成本可以大幅降低。
