It Works Better When I Do That: Interaction and Communication In Radiology Departments

This paper investigates patterns of communication and interaction in radiology departments by utilising ethnographic and ethnomethodological techniques. We conducted 12 sessions of observations with accompanying interviews in the practitioners natural working environment, and used this to construct a model of how a report is authored from an outsider perspective. These observations revealed that practitioners have a distinct way of interacting with speech recognition systems that is unlike traditional interaction with Voice User Interfaces, that there are a myriad of ways of communicating a result to peers that are dependent on context and tacit knowledge, and that reports are rarely completed without some form of cognitive interruption in the authoring stage. We finish by recommending a codified framework for guidance on communicating results that builds on evidence-based findings tailored specifically to radiology practitioners.