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Better Radiologist Productivity, Patient No-Shows, and Chest X-Ray AI
April 6, 2026
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Together with
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“Sure, radiology is easy to point at and dropping a neutron bomb on the physicians might look great on a spreadsheet to an administrator and the financial folks. But hospitals actually run on bureaucracy. In other words, they run on exactly the kind of repetitive, rules-based, text-heavy work that AI is already very good at.”
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Healthcare attorney Mark Weiss, on recent comments on radiology AI by health system CEOs.
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What if there was a way to improve your radiologists’ productivity and help them focus on image interpretation without the heavy lift of a massive imaging IT project? Australian researchers found an old-school solution: shifting many clerical tasks to radiology administrative assistants.
The huge – and growing – disconnect between radiologist staffing and imaging volume has imaging managers around the world searching for solutions.
- Some are turning to high-tech tools like AI to squeeze more productivity from their radiologists, many of whom are already operating at maximum capacity.
But lost in the debate is the reality that radiologists perform many functions besides just image interpretation (a fact that seems to have escaped some New York hospital CEOs).
- These tasks include notifying clinicians of imaging findings, locating prior images, and study protocoling. Previous research indicates that these noninterpretive tasks can consume up to 44% of a radiologist’s workday.
In the new study, published in Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology, researchers implemented a system in which radiology administrative assistants were assigned to radiologists at Jones Radiology, a network of 60 radiologists across 30 sites in Australia.
- The RAAs worked normal business hours and were assigned tasks through a critical results feature in the PACS. Radiologists could choose if and when they wanted to use the RAA service.
The main task RAAs handled was communicating critical results to referring physicians.
- But they also had other jobs, like finding and importing prior images, flagging scans that needed priority review, and providing research assistance.
How well did the RAA system work? The researchers tracked its performance over 12 months from 2021 to 2022, finding that RAAs…
- Were assigned 5.4k tasks during the study period.
- Saved 679 hours of radiologist time.
- 50% of the tasks involved communicating significant or unexpected results to clinicians.
- The remaining tasks were unrelated to results communication, such as sourcing external images, miscellaneous tasks and general inquiries, and supporting radiologists with IT issues.
- Over 90% of “important” findings were communicated within the six-hour target turnaround time, but only 55% of “critical” findings met the one-hour turnaround goal.
The Takeaway
The idea of a clerical assistant to take over a radiologist’s noninterpretive tasks isn’t necessarily new, but this study is a great example of how to put it into practice. Radiology administrative assistants could also serve as a bridge to more complex IT-based operational solutions in the future.
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- AI to Predict Patient No-Shows: Nothing disrupts radiology workflow more than patient no-shows. Could AI help predict them? Writing in Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology, researchers used past no-show data to develop a half-dozen models for predicting no-shows, finding that the best model showed only moderate predictive power (AUC = 0.71) – reflecting the complexity inherent in forecasting human behavior. Factors that boosted chances of patients not showing up included a past history of missed appointments, lead time between scheduling and exam date, and appointment confirmation status.
- Digital Intelligence Platform Manages Surge: A homegrown digital intelligence platform developed by researchers in China helped their radiology department manage a 66% surge in imaging volume over two years with minimal staff growth. As described in Academic Radiology, the platform uses algorithms to handle patient appointments, queue exams, manage devices, and route reports to radiologists, among other functions. In tests covering 1.1M imaging exams, the platform reduced order-to-appointment and order-to-exam times, although exam-to-report times for routine studies went up – perhaps limited by human interpretation capacity.
- Imaging Growth Slows: Despite widespread belief that imaging volumes have risen, a new commentary in JAMA Health Forum maintains that imaging’s growth rate has actually declined on a per capita basis. Once the poster child for excess U.S. health utilization, medical imaging use per capita stabilized in 2008 and in some areas declined, due to efforts such as reimbursement reductions, prior authorization, and the rise of value-based care. Radiologists still spend too much time on noninterpretative tasks, however, a problem that could be solved through technology like AI.
- ASTRO – Medicare Cuts Hurt Cancer Centers: Recent cuts in Medicare reimbursement are hurting cancer centers and threaten patient access to radiation therapy. A new survey from ASTRO documents the damage, with two-thirds of providers seeing payment declines of 10% or more and some sites anecdotally reporting drops of 20%-30%. The cuts went into effect on January 1, and included a restructuring of how CMS pays for radiation therapy. Independent community-based clinics are being hit particularly hard, with one provider saying they “are struggling to make payroll.”
- Report – ‘Cracks Show’ at CDRH: The FDA center that handles regulatory review for radiology devices and software is in turmoil after a year of personnel cuts left staff “overworked and understaffed.” That’s according to a new report by MedTechDive that investigated staffing at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, which like other HHS and FDA agencies was the target of mass layoffs in 2025. The FDA overall lost 21% of its workforce from September 2024 to January 2025, and the cuts created a “culture of fear and anxiety.”
- AI of Chest X-Ray Predicts Mortality: An AI algorithm for chest X-rays developed by South Korean researchers predicted mortality in a massive study of 422k people published in Radiology: Artificial Intelligence. The AgeNet algorithm analyzed chest radiographs to calculate “accelerated aging,” or evidence that radiographic age exceeded biological age. Over 8.5 years of follow-up, risk of all-cause mortality was 26% higher in men with accelerated aging on a single image and 52% higher in women. People with “aging velocity” that worsened in multiple chest X-rays over time also had higher mortality.
- Gen AI Software Gets Korean Approval: A generative AI algorithm for analyzing chest X-rays and producing reports received approval in South Korea. Soombit.ai’s AIRead-CXR is the first generative AI model to get Korean approval, and may be the first to be authorized worldwide. The model analyzes radiographs for 57 different conditions, ranging from pleural effusion to fractures, and produces preliminary reports for radiologist review. A 2025 study found that Soombit’s preliminary reports sped up report turnaround for chest X-rays.
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- MRI Safety Project in Africa: Danish MRI safety company NordInsight is working with two Nigerian universities on a project to develop an MRI safety screening protocol that can be used in resource-challenged countries. NordInsight is providing its MRI safety platform to Bayero University Kano and the Federal University of Health Sciences, Azare to support implant safety evaluation and workflow standardization before MRI scans.
- Merit Medical Buys Tissue Marker Firm: Interventional device company Merit Medical Systems acquired View Point Medical, the developer of the OneMark system for ultrasound-based tissue markers. The OneMark platform is designed to enable clinicians to place markers on suspicious tissue during biopsies that can be visualized with imaging during surgery for more accurate tumor localization. Merit paid $140M for View Point.
- Cardiac CT Scanners Get European Nods: Cardiac CT developer Arineta is poised to enter the European market after getting EU MDR CE mark approval for their SpotLight and SpotLight Duo CT scanners. The scanners are dedicated cardiovascular systems that perform single-beat whole-heart imaging, with SpotLight Duo able to conduct thoracic scans for pulmonary conditions. Arineta positions the systems as more economical alternatives to using whole-body CT scanners for cardiac imaging.
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- Will Radiologists Lead or Be Led? Radiology is facing a defining moment. In this episode of The Radiology Report, host Daniel Arnold of Medality sat down with Frank Lexa, MD, to talk candidly about what comes next for the specialty.
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- AI-Powered Population Health: DeepHealth is assembling radiology’s largest portfolio of AI-enabled radiology solutions for population health. Learn more about their focus and their recent acquisition of Gleamer in this video interview.
- A Cancer Patient’s Story: Clarity When It Mattered Most: Marty didn’t need more tests, but he needed answers. Spectral CT reveals what conventional imaging can’t, with enhanced tissue differentiation and lesion detection. With Philips innovation, clinicians gained earlier insight and greater diagnostic confidence. Listen to Marty’s story.
- A Comprehensive Suite of Tools in a Single Platform: UnityVue from Mach7 Technologies offers a comprehensive suite of tools in a single platform, streamlining the entire radiology process from image acquisition to reporting. Discover what it can do for you today.
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- This Isn’t Just an Upgrade: The PS360 end-of-life is more than a routine change. It’s a chance to rethink reporting workflow, infrastructure, and radiologist experience for the next decade. See how modern reporting from Rad AI protects reading room flow. Learn more.
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