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One of the hardest parts about getting an X-ray or a CT scan is the wait. Sometimes it takes days, or even weeks, for medical imaging results to be analyzed by a radiologist, transferred to a primary doctor, and then delivered to the patient — good news or bad.

Today, that hand-wringing delay has been nearly eliminated. In 2021, provisions from the 21st Century Cures Act kicked in that require health centers to provide patients with access to their health information on request — including radiology reports, which patients can typically access immediately through their online patient portals. The rules got some teeth this September, with the establishment of fines of up to $1 million each time health IT vendors and health organizations keep records from patients.

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For patient advocates, putting patients in control of their own health information is an important step toward transparency and medical agency. But for the radiologists delivering the often-complex reports, the new rules are creating their own forms of anxiety and frustration, as a panel of medical imaging specialists debated at this year’s meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.

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