Radiology Report — From Diagnostic Image to Signed Report

What Is a Radiology Report?

A radiology report is the medico-legal document that contains the professional interpretation of a diagnostic imaging study (X-ray, CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, among others) performed by a radiologist. It is the final output of the diagnostic imaging workflow: the bridge between the technical acquisition of the image and the clinical decision of the treating physician.

The process begins when the radiologist receives their list of assigned studies, reviews the images using precision diagnostic tools, drafts a structured report — often aided by templates and voice dictation — and signs it digitally. Once signed, the report is automatically integrated into the patient's record and becomes available to the referring physician.

Why It Matters in Healthcare

The radiology report is the link that transforms a medical image into actionable clinical information. Without a timely and accurate report, the treating physician cannot determine the therapeutic course of action. Its importance is reflected in:

• Diagnostic value: the radiologist applies their expertise to identify findings, correlate with clinical history, and issue a diagnostic impression that guides clinical decisions.
• Medico-legal backing: with a digital signature, the report acquires legal validity and full traceability of who generated it, when, and under what conditions.
• Teleradiology: digitization of the report allows remote radiologists to read and report studies from any location, which is critical for after-hours coverage, rural areas, and second opinions.
• Automated workflow: in modern systems, the signed report is automatically published on the patient and referring physician portals, eliminating delivery delays.
• Technical traceability: validation permissions that record every step in the process — assignment, reading, drafting, signing, publication — for audit and regulatory compliance.

How Davix Relates to Radiology Reports

The Davix PACS/RIS integrates the entire radiology report workflow into a unified platform. Key capabilities include:

• An organized list of studies assigned to the radiologist, with efficient workload management.
• A web-based viewer with advanced measurement, annotation, and reconstruction tools for precision diagnostics.
• Structured report templates and voice dictation support to streamline drafting.
• Native integration with digital signature technology, granting legal validity to the report and enabling the teleradiology workflow.
• Automatic publication of the signed report to the patient record and to the referring physician and patient portals.
• Full traceability of the report lifecycle, from assignment through official delivery.

A radiology report that is generated and managed digitally not only accelerates diagnosis but also improves the quality of care and legal certainty for all stakeholders involved.