Temporary reports allow radiologists to create and read reports for studies that have not yet been received in Rad AI Reporting via HL7. This is useful in emergency cases when a report is needed urgently, or during HL7 downtime when study data cannot be transmitted.
Once the HL7 message for the completed study is received, admins can reconcile the temporary report by linking it to the correct accession number and study record in Rad AI Reporting.
In this article:
- Prerequisites
- Creating a temporary report
- Viewing temporary reports
- Reconciling a temporary report (admins)
- Configuring observations that apply to temporary reports (admins)
- Frequently asked questions
Prerequisites
To create and view temporary reports, make sure:
- You’ve been assigned a role (e.g. “Radiologist”) that has the following permissions enabled:
- List Reports
- Create Report
- Update Report
- View Report
- Sign Report
- Create Document
- List Documents
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View Document
Learn more about roles and permissions.
To reconcile temporary reports, make sure:
- You’ve been assigned a role (e.g. “Admin”) that has Admin Access permission.
- You have RIS or PACS open in a separate window to reference accession numbers.
Creating a temporary report
If accessing reports from an worklist external to Rad AI Reporting, skip to step 4 or learn more.
- In Rad AI Reporting, select Reports from the main navigation menu on the left-hand side.
- Click the New Report button.
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(Optional) Enter an accession number. This can be invented. The system will check for duplicates and flag any conflicts.
💡 If you don’t enter an accession number, Rad AI Reporting will automatically generate one in this format: "RADAITEMP{random_10_characters}" - (Optional) Enter additional patient details to help administrators reconcile the report later. Leave blank if unknown.
- Click Confirm to create the temporary report.
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Complete the report. You can apply a template, use Omni AI features, and add observations as per usual.
💡 Observations configured to apply regardless of procedure code are automatically applied to temporary reports. You can still add any observation from the "Observations" view in the report workbench. Learn more about observations.⚠️ Priors and associated studies only become available when the temporary report is reconciled with a valid study. -
Draft, sign, or preliminarily sign the report (or mark it as “in review”).
⚠️ A HL7 Observation Result (ORU) message will not be sent until the report is reconciled.
Viewing temporary reports
You can view temporary reports:
- In the Signed today report list (if signed).
- In the Temporary report list.
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In the All studies list, by applying a filter. Click All filters, then select Temporary status > Temporary.
💡 In report lists in the “Reports” area, the report status is appended with T for “temporary”. -
(Admins only) In the Report Manager. Click the filter icon next to the search bar, click the Temporary status field, select Temporary, and click Search.
⚠️ For temporary reports, the outbound status will be "pending" until the temporary report is reconciled, after which it will attempt to send via HL7 and become “not temporary”.💡 In the Report Manager, the accession number is appended with a clock icon for temporary reports.
Reconciling a temporary report (admins)
Administrators are responsible for manually reconciling temporary reports to valid studies once they are received by Rad AI Reporting.
⚠️ Before reconciling a temporary report, make sure the target study does not already have a report attached—since temporary reports can only be reconciled with “completed” (available) studies. This may happen if a radiologist opens the study from a report list, which automatically creates a draft report on that study.
If a report already exists, you’ll need to delete the draft report before you can reconcile the temporary report with the correct study.
- Select Admin > Report Manager from the main navigation menu on the left-hand side.
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Search for the temporary report. The accession number of listed temporary reports will be appended with a clock icon.
💡 To filter the list to show only temporary reports, click the filter icon next to the search bar, click the Temporary status field, select Temporary, and click Search. - Double-click the temporary report to open the Report Manager dialog.
- At the top of the dialog, click the pencil icon next to the accession number.
- Referencing your RIS or PACS in another window, enter or paste an accession number. The list of matching accession numbers will automatically update as you type.
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Select the desired accession number, then click Confirm to reconcile the report to that accession number.
⚠️ This can’t be undone. Before confirming, double-check that you’ve entered the right accession number.
If you try to reconcile with an accession number that’s already taken by another report, you’ll get an error. Learn more.
After you reconcile the report, Rad AI Reporting will automatically attempt to send it outbound via HL7.💡 Once reconciled, the report is marked as “not temporary”. -
(Optional) Under the Activity tab, click Add note and provide details about the reconciliation. A reconciliation event is always included in the Activity log, but a note with additional context may be useful for auditing purposes.
⚠️ Any notes added here will be visible to all users in the "Activity" view in the report workbench.
Configuring observations that apply to temporary reports (admins)
In Rad AI Reporting, observations are custom fields—defined and managed by admins—that let you store and export data associated with reports. Learn more about observations.
Observations are applied to reports based on a study’s procedure code. Since temporary reports are detached from any study, Rad AI Reporting assigns the default procedure code RADAI_DEFAULT_PROC to all temporary reports. This makes it possible to set up observations that apply to temporary reports.
Here’s how to do it:
- Go to Admin > Observations and double-click an observation to edit it in the Observation dialog. Or, follow these steps to create a new observation.
- Click on the Procedure Codes tab.
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In the search field, enter the procedure code RADAI_DEFAULT_PROC and click Select.
💡 Alternatively, you can turn on the toggle Apply regardless of procedure code. This will apply the observation to all studies, including temporary studies. However, you should use RADAI_DEFAULT_PROC if you’d like to isolate the observation to just temporary studies. - Click Save. The observation will now apply to temporary studies, and will appear in the “Observations” view in the user’s reporting workbench.
Frequently asked questions
I’m using an external worklist. Can I still create a temporary report?
If your external worklist application launches Rad AI Reporting for an accession number we’re yet to receive via HL7, you’ll see a message: "No study found for the accession {ACC#}. Do you want to create a temporary report?"
On clicking Continue, you’ll be asked to complete details as per the steps outlined in creating a temporary report. The accession number field will be pre-filled based on the accession number in your external worklist.
Can I create a temporary report without patient details?
Yes. If patient information is unavailable, you can proceed with just an accession number. Administrators can reconcile the report later once the correct patient/study information is available.
What happens if I enter an accession number that already exists when creating a temporary report?
The system automatically checks for duplicates. If the accession number you enter matches an existing one, it will be flagged and you won’t be able to create a temporary report.
To avoid this, make sure the target study does not already have a report attached before reconciling a temporary report—since temporary reports can only be reconciled with “completed” (available) studies. This may happen if a radiologist opens the study from a report list, which automatically creates a draft report on that study.
If a report already exists, you’ll need to delete the draft report before you can reconcile the temporary report with the correct study.
Can radiologists reconcile their own temporary reports?
No, only users assigned the admin role can reconcile a temporary report to a valid study.
Will temporary reports be sent downstream via HL7?
No, HL7 messages are held back until a temporary report is reconciled with a valid study. Once reconciled, Rad AI Reporting will automatically attempt to send it outbound via HL7.
Is there an audit trail for reconciliations?
Yes, the activity log—available in both the Report Manager and the Activity view in the report workbench—records the user who reconciled the temporary report and when it was reconciled.
Can I use temporary reports for reading on scheduled studies?
No. Temporary reports are only for when Rad AI Reporting has not received any HL7 message for the study, meaning the radiologist must enter study details manually.
Scheduled studies already exist in the system from an HL7 scheduling message, and can be opened and reported on directly without creating a temporary report. Learn more.
Can observations (custom fields) be configured to apply to temporary reports?
Yes. Rad AI Reporting assigns the default procedure code RADAI_DEFAULT_PROC to all temporary reports. This makes it possible to set up observations that apply to temporary reports. Learn more.
This feature is only available on request. Contact support@radai.com for access.