RMI often gets asked by patients why they cannot get imaging results at the time of their exam. It’s a common question — one with many good reasons as to why you need to wait to get those results.
First, although our technicians are the best in the business, they aren’t able to give you any information. For professional and legal reasons, they cannot provide information even if there is not a problem (in their opinion). The same is also true of billing representatives or other service department personnel such as in medical records. Due to various laws (most notably HIPAA), your records have information that is confidential based on who is looking at them.
In addition, there is the issue of time. It may only take minutes for technicians to conduct some imaging exams, but our radiologists also need time to look at the images, get previous studies as needed, compile a report for your doctor, and put that information into our system. Their years of experience as doctors enables them to make their report for your physician.
At the end of the day, your imaging results are a collaborative process between our radiologists and your doctor. Your doctor needs the images and report to determine what (if anything) needs to be addressed for treatment.
Your report is, of course, forwarded to your physician who referred you to RMI. However, you may want to obtain it yourself via our Patient Portal on our website to view the information. If you need a username or password, please call us at 810-732-1846.
The Patient Portal is your gateway to viewing reports and updating your personal information such as medications, allergies and other conditions. Read more about our Patient Portal.
Without training it might be difficult for you to interpret your imaging report correctly. Should you have any questions about your imaging report, please contact the clinician who referred you for the exam.
