Live Clinical Trial Finds Generative AI Speeds X-Ray Reporting Without Accuracy Loss
June 5, 2025
A generative AI model integrated into a live radiology workflow increased x-ray report documentation efficiency by 15.5% with no loss in accuracy.
Key Details
- Generative AI was prospectively evaluated for drafting plain x-ray radiology reports within a real clinical workflow.
- The study involved 122,411 x-ray studies from November 2023 to April 2024.
- AI assistance reduced average documentation time from 189.2 to 159.8 seconds (15.5% improvement).
- Clinical accuracy (p=0.41) and textual quality (p=0.06) showed no difference with AI use versus non-AI reports as reviewed in 800 cases.
- AI flagged unexpected pneumothorax cases with 72.7% sensitivity and 99.9% specificity among 97,651 studied cases.
- Net time savings equaled over 63 documentation hours, potentially reducing required radiologist shifts from 79 to 67.
Why It Matters
Despite previous retrospective analyses, this is the first prospective trial demonstrating that generative AI can both speed up radiology reporting and accurately flag critical findings in a live clinical setting. These findings address global radiologist shortages and indicate real-world benefits from clinician-AI collaboration in diagnostic imaging.