A recommendation written as 'clinical correlation and follow-up as appropriate' is easy to miss and hard to act on. The ones most likely to be completed name the test, the interval and the reason, and appear in the impression rather than the body of the report.
Where the department has a tracking system for actionable findings, use it. Where it does not, a direct message to the referrer for significant incidental findings closes most of the gap.
- Put the recommendation in the impression, not only the findings.
- Name the modality and the interval, for example 'CT chest in 12 months'.
- Cite the guideline used, such as Fleischner, so the referrer can check it.
- Flag significant incidental findings through your actionable-findings pathway.
Why it matters
Vague recommendations are the ones that never get done.
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