Dictate Less, Let RadPro Tidy It

You have found the abnormality. Say where it is, what it looks like and what matters about it. You do not need to dictate a polished paragraph around it. With an appropriate template, RadPro can organize your findings and supply the routine normal wording. Our suggestion: spend your words on the interpretation, and let the AI tidy the draft.

What to dictate, and what to skip

Start with the exam: modality, body region, side and contrast or protocol when relevant. Include the indication and any technique limitations. Then dictate the abnormalities in the order you encounter them. Returning to the liver after describing the kidneys is fine. Missing punctuation, uneven spacing and fragments do not need a separate cleanup pass before you send the text.

• Keep the clinical detail. Location, laterality, measurements, units, relevant characteristics, comparison and your degree of certainty belong in the dictation. Say which lesion is larger and what it measured before.
• Add pertinent negatives when useful. A negative that answers the clinical question or qualifies an abnormality is worth saying explicitly. Do not rely on a generic normal template to supply that distinction.
• Skip the housekeeping. You can leave out spoken punctuation commands, repeated headings and the recital of normal organs already covered by a template you have checked. You do not need to move each finding into its final section yourself.

Terse still needs to be unambiguous. Correct a wrong side, a missing negation or a mistaken measurement before sending. RadPro works from your text; it does not inspect the images to decide what you meant.

A short, messy example

This is a synthetic illustration, with no patient text. The draft excerpt shows how RadPro can group the observations. It is illustrative, not a captured result or a complete report; template wording and your settings affect the final layout.

ct abdomen pelvis with iv contrast. indication flank pain
left lower pole stone 4 mm nonobstructing, sigmoid diverticulosis no diverticulitis.. liver segment 2 cyst 12 mm
back to kidneys no hydronephrosis

INDICATION: Flank pain.
TECHNIQUE: CT abdomen and pelvis with intravenous contrast.
FINDINGS:
Liver: 12 mm segment 2 cyst.
Kidneys: Nonobstructing 4 mm left lower pole calculus. No hydronephrosis.
Bowel: Sigmoid diverticulosis without diverticulitis.

The renal observations now sit together. The sizes, side and explicit negatives remain. There was no need to dictate the liver heading or stop to repair the double full stop. For the broader approach, see our post on structured reporting from dictation.

Let the template carry the routine normals

Generate Template builds a starting report for the exam. When RadPro integrates an ordinary dictation, it places findings under the template's headings, replaces contradicted normal statements and retains uncontradicted defaults for undictated organs. That is how you can dictate the abnormalities without reciting every normal organ. Those defaults are template text, not observations made by the AI.

Check that the template fits the study and that every retained normal is true. Dictate limitations such as an organ not being assessed. A limited examination or a technologist worksheet should not become a full survey of normal organs just because a template contains them.

If you want your own wording, My Templates is a Premium feature for keeping and editing your report templates. Generate Template adapts a matching saved template to the exam. Start with normal statements you are comfortable reviewing, then let the findings replace the parts that need to change.

For follow-up, supply the prior and dictate the changes

You can use a previous report as the starting text. Today this uses the report integration workflow: you supply the prior yourself. RadPro does not fetch it from your imaging system or provide a separate prior-report comparison tool.

1. Paste the previous report into the main report box.
2. Open Add findings to integrate. In the box labelled Findings to integrate into the report above, dictate the interval changes. Identify each finding and state its current status explicitly.
3. Update the indication, technique and comparison for the current exam, then process the report and review the resulting draft against the images and prior.

For a single paste, put the previous report first, then Integrate these findings: on its own line, followed by the changes. That marker separates the report from the findings to merge. A synthetic change might read: “Left pleural effusion now small, previously moderate. Right pleural effusion resolved.” Say what remains similar only after checking it. Review all carried-forward findings and the impression, and remove outdated history or technique details. Silence alone does not establish stability.

Review the report, then sign

The aim is fewer dictated words and less manual rearranging. You still review and sign the final report. Check the clinical details, template normals and interval changes, then confirm the impression reflects your interpretation. Our dictation error checklist covers the small words that deserve a second look. Try this with a synthetic case on the free plan, with ten reports a month and no credit card required. See plan details for My Templates access.