Despite recent evidence that physician extenders can streamline radiology workflow and reduce turnaround times, radiologists should rely more on artificial intelligence (AI) for assistance than non-physician providers (NPP), a group of industry experts has said. In an editorial published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology, a team of experts, led by Daniel Ortiz, M.D., with Summit Radiology in Georgia, pointed to the several benefits of AI – not only do the tools save money and streamline workflow, but they will not encroach on a radiologist's responsibilities. For these reasons, they said, radiologists should forego giving physician extenders – the nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other providers who take on some of a provider's duties – full practice authority. "Although labor costs have been reduced and radiologists can focus more on complex imaging studies and interventional procedures, there are unintended consequences of non-physician practitioners in practice that could diminish physician's role as healthcare providers," the group wrote. "Therefore, we encourage radiologists to consider an alternative to non-physician practitioners in radiology: the incorporation of rapidly evolving artificial intelligence algorithms into daily practice." Their concern was spawned by a recently passed Georgia law that allows advanced practice registered nurses to order CR, MRI, and other imaging exams under certain circumstances.

Radiology extenders who read chest X-rays save attending radiologists more time during the day than radiology residents do, potentially streamlining workflow and alleviating provider burnout. At least that has been the experience for researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. Radiologists in their department read more cases per hour when the drafts came from radiology extenders than from residents, resulting in nearly an hour – 51 minutes – of provider time saved each day. The authors shared their experience on Oct. 13 in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. "Interpreting these radiographs entails a disproportionate amount of work (eg., retrieving patient history, completing standard dictation templates, and ensuring proper communication of important findings before finalization of reports). Given low reimbursement rates for these studies, economic necessities push radiologists to provide faster interpretations, contributing to burnout," said the team led by Arijitt Borthakur, MBA, Ph.D., senior research investigator in the Perelman School of Medicine radiology department.