Closing the Communication Loop in Radiology Follow-Ups
Disclosure Statement
No planner, faculty or staff of this educational activity has any relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.
Accreditation Statement
The Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. is accredited by the California Medical Association (CMA) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Enrollment Instructions
The webinar, led by the risk management experts with the Cooperative of American Physicians (CAP), is now available for free on-demand. To access the course, follow the instructions below:
- Click on the secure link here.
- New users, follow the instructions on the “Sign-Up” page to create your account on Absorb LMS. If you have an existing Absorb LMS account, click “Back to Login” and sign in with your username and password, then click the secure link.
- After you have signed up, you will receive a confirmation email to verify your account. Once verified, you will be able to access your course dashboard.
- On your dashboard, select the course titled “Closing the Communication Loop in Radiology Follow-Ups” which will be displayed under “Catalog.”
- Upon completion of the course, you will earn a certificate.
Description
Courts are increasingly holding referring physicians and other specialists jointly liable for missed or delayed follow‑up after incidental findings on radiologic imaging, which may impact your practice more than you realize. Join the Cooperative of American Physicians (CAP) for an eye‑opening webinar that will address the critical gaps that can occur when relying on radiology reports alone, and how coordinated tracking and care‑management systems can reduce your risk and improve patient outcomes while capturing additional revenue.
Summary of Content:
The Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. is a physician-owned and physician-directed corporation created to provide California physicians with medical professional liability coverage and other services related to their medical practice. We have collected decades of medical malpractice claims which provide us with the opportunity to analyze, identify the root causes of patient injury and provide education which addresses the deficiencies.
The purpose of the CAP CME activity is to provide education that promotes change, development and improvement for our physician learners and other health care learners. Our CME activity provides high-quality, evidence-based educational activities that are developed to increase physician competence, enhance practice performance, and/or promote patient safety and whenever possible, improve patient outcomes in the populations served by our learners.
General Information
You are not required to complete this Curriculum in one sitting. Our site will track your progress and allow you to log in at a later date to complete the activity. The full activity will take approximately one (1) hour to complete and is presented as a recorded lecture format. In order to receive credit for completing the activity, you will be required to complete the evaluation presented at the end of the activity.
Target Audience: Physician learners of all specialties and practice locations and other health professionals including nurse practitioners and physician assistants are the targeted audience.
Release Date: June 3, 2026
Expiration Date: June 3, 2029
CME Granting Organization:
Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc.
333 S. Hope St., 12th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071
800-252-7706
Website: www.capphysicians.com
Content Disclaimer
The information presented in this program should not be considered legal advice applicable to a specific situation. Legal guidance for individual matters should be obtained from a retained attorney.
Policies
Copyright Policy This material is copyrighted © 2026 by the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc
Privacy Policy - click here
Contact us at riskmanagement@capphysicians.com or 800-252-0555 Cooperative of American Physicians Inc., 333 South Hope St., 12th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071.
To view our internet online presentations, your computer must meet the requirements below:
Hardware: Participants must have a personal computer with internet connection and speakers or an iOS or Android mobile device.
Operating Systems and Browsers
Windows 10 and later:
Internet Explorer 10 (requires Adobe Flash Player 10.3 or later)
Google Chrome 63.0 or later
Firefox 55.0 or later
Mac OSX 10.11 and later:
Safari 10 and later
Google Chrome 63.0 or later
Firefox 55.0 or later
iPad iOS 10.0 and later:
Safari
Google Chrome 63.0 or later
Android Tablets OS 7.0 (Nougat) and later
Google Chrome 63.0 or later
Smartphones: Not recommended
Bandwidth: High Speed or DSL
This activity was prepared by the CAP Risk Management & Patient Safety staff who have many years of experience as experts and thought leaders in clinical risk management, practice management and adverse event handling. These highly qualified individuals have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with learners to help reduce risk and increase the quality of patient care.
The Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. is accredited by the California Medical Association (CMA) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
No planner, faculty or staff of this educational activity has any relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.
At the end of this activity, the learner will be able to:
- Quantify the scope of follow-up failures in radiology and their impact on patient outcomes.
- Identify communication breakdowns that create medicolegal liability for radiologists and referring physicians.
- Analyze real-world malpractice cases stemming from lost follow-up recommendations.
- Describe evidence-based strategies and systems that improve follow-up adherence.
- Apply risk-reduction frameworks to their own practice environments.
Method and Medium
To obtain CME credit, view the entire online presentation and complete the evaluation survey. Then you will be able to print your certificate online.
Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants will earn a certificate of completion.
American College of Radiology, Appropriateness Criteria. Actionable Findings Follow-Up.
1. Mabotuwana T et al. Determining Adherence to Follow-up Imaging Recommendations. JACR. 2018;15(3):422-428.
2. Mabotuwana T et al. Impact of Follow-Up Imaging Recommendation Specificity on Adherence. J Digital Imaging. 2022;35(5):88-95.
3. Hansra SS et al. Factors Affecting Adherence to Recommendations. Curr Prob Diag Rad. 2021;50(4):466-471.
4. Wandtke B et al. ACR Learning Network Follow-Up Collaborative. JACR. 2025 (online ahead of print).
5. Zaki-Metias K et al. The FIND Program. J Imaging Inform Med. 2023;36:767-775.
6. Anthony SG et al. Impact of a 4-Year QI Initiative to Improve Communication of Critical Results. Radiology. 2011;259(3):802-807.
7. Lacson R et al. Four-Year Impact of an Alert Notification System on Closed-Loop Communication. AJR. 2014;203(5):933-938.
8. Kaminetzky M et al. Adherence to Radiology Recommendations in a Clinical CT Lung Screening Program. Clin Imaging. 2018;51:40-44.
9. Larocque N et al. QI Report: Adherence to Follow-up Recommendations for Incidental Aneurysms. RadioGraphics. 2023;43(4):e220121.
10. Berlin L. Failure of Radiologic Communication. Applied Radiology. Multiple cases cited.
11. Berlin L. Radiologic Errors and Malpractice. AJR. 2007;189(3):517-522.
12. Bruno MA et al. Understanding and Confronting Our Mistakes. RadioGraphics. 2015;35(6):1668-1676.
13. Whang JS et al. Causes of Medical Malpractice Suits Against Radiologists. Radiology. 2013;266(2):548-554.
14. Larson DB et al. The ACR Learning Network. JACR. 2023;20(6):587-594.
15. Jones S, Hoffman T. Into the Courtroom / So You've Been Sued. ACR Bulletin. 2024-2025.
16. The Joint Commission. Sentinel Event Policy. Updated 2025.
17. Jhala K et al. Financial Impact of a Radiology Safety Net Program for Resolution of Clinically Necessary Follow-up Imaging Recommendations. JACR. 2024;21(4):581-589.
18. Moore CL et al. White Paper: Best Practices in the Communication and Management of Actionable Incidental Findings in ED Imaging. JACR. 2023;20(4):422-430.
19. Mabotuwana T et al. Improving Quality of Follow-Up Imaging Recommendations in Radiology. J Digital Imaging. 2018;31(5):704-713. (PMC 5977608)
20. Miller & Zois. Radiology Malpractice: Failure to Communicate Findings. Case Database, 2017 (Massachusetts).
21. TMLT Closed Claim Study: Failure to Follow Up on Imaging Findings. Texas Medical Liability Trust.
22. ACR Practice Parameter for Communication of Diagnostic Imaging Findings. American College of Radiology. Revised 2020.
23. Daye D et al. Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Adherence to Radiology Follow-up Recommendations. JACR. 2022;19(1):30-38.
24. Defined Disparities in Follow-Up of Incidental Imaging Findings Across Patient Populations. Health Equity. 2021.