Reverting signed reports to draft status

As an administrator, learn how to revert a signed report, preliminary report, or addendum to draft status so you can correct errors or fill in missing required information. 

💡 To learn about how radiologists can unsign reports within a configurable time limit, see Undoing the signing of a report instead.

In this article: 

1. Prerequisites
2. Overview
3. Reverting to draft from the Report Manager (all report types)
4. Behavior by scenario
5. Troubleshooting
6. Frequently asked questions 

Prerequisites

1. You have the “Admin Access” permission enabled for your role. 
    
2. You have one of the following permissions enabled for your role, depending on your goal: 
   • “Revert Report to Draft (Before ORU Sent)”

   • “Revert Report to Draft (After ORU Sent)”

     💡 The “Revert Report to Draft (After ORU Sent)” permission also allows you to revert reports to draft status before the ORU is sent. 

Learn more about the difference between these two actions in the Overview section.

💡 By default, the preconfigured “Admin” role has “Admin Access” and “Revert Report to Draft (Before ORU Sent)” permissions enabled—but not “Revert Report to Draft (After ORU Sent)”. Learn more about managing roles and permissions.

Overview

As an administrator, you may need to revert a signed report, preliminary report, or addendum to draft status to correct reporting errors—such as a wrong exam type—or fill in missing information—such as observations. 

There are two cases in which a report, preliminary report, or addendum can be reverted to draft: 

1. The report has been signed but the HL7 Observation Result (ORU) message is yet to be sent
    
   • In this case, the report status is “Signed” and the outbound status is “Pending”, “Queued”, or “Error”. For example, the outbound status is “Queued” because the report is still within the signing user’s configured time limit for undoing their signature. Learn more about outbound statuses. 
      
   • To revert a report to draft in this case, you need the “Revert Report to Draft (Before ORU Sent)” permission enabled for your role, or the “Revert Report to Draft (After ORU Sent)” permission since it covers both cases. See Prerequisites.
      
   • When the report is reverted to draft, the ORU message is canceled and does not send.
      
   • On signing again, the ORU message will attempt to send as per usual. 
     
     
      
2. The report has been signed and the HL7 Observation Result (ORU) message has been sent

   • In this case, the report status is “Signed” and the outbound status is “Sent”. 

     💡 In rare scenarios, the outbound status may still show as “Queued” even though the ORU message has actually been sent. This is because Rad AI is yet to receive confirmation via HL7.
   • To revert a report to draft in this case, you need the “Revert Report to Draft (After ORU Sent)” permission enabled for your role. This also allows you to revert reports to draft status before the ORU message is sent. See Prerequisites.
      
   • When the report is reverted to draft, the original ORU message is not affected. The outbound status remains as "Sent". 
      
   • On signing again, the ORU message will attempt to send as per usual.

In both cases, an event will be logged in the Activity tab in the Report Manager—and in the Activity view in the report workbench—for tracking and auditing purposes. 

 

Reverting to draft from the Report Manager (all report types)

Use these steps when reverting a signed report, addendum, or preliminary report from the Report Manager. Then read on to learn how behavior differs by scenario.

1. Select Admin > Report Manager from the main navigation menu on the left-hand side.
   
   
   
    

2. Use the search bar or browse the list to find the report you’d like to revert to draft status.

   💡 Click the filter icon next to the search bar and apply filters to narrow down your search—for example, by Report status and Outbound status.
3. Double‑click the report to open it.
    

4. Click the drop-down arrow next to the View Report button, then select Revert to Draft.
   
   

   ⚠️ The “Revert to Draft” button may appear disabled—or you may see an error—if: 

   • You don’t have the “Revert Report to Draft (Before ORU Sent)” or “Revert Report to Draft (After ORU Sent)” permission enabled for your role. See Prerequisites.
   • The report is not in the expected status for that scenario (“Signed” or “Amended”).
   • The outbound status has changed (for example, the ORU message was sent just before you clicked the button, but you only have the “Before ORU Sent” permission).
   • The report or addendum was created in a system external to Rad AI Reporting.
5. After a successful revert:
    
   • The report status updates to “Draft” (or “Draft (A)”), as described in Behavior by scenario.
      
   • The outbound status updates based on whether the ORU was sent or not.
      
   • An event is logged in:
      
     • The Activity tab in the Report Manager
       
       
       
        
     • The Activity view in the report workbench
       
       

You (or another user) can then reopen the report from a report list, make the necessary changes, and sign it again if appropriate.

 

Behavior by scenario

Learn how status and outbound behavior differs by scenario when you revert a signed report, addendum, or preliminary report to draft.

💡 Currently, addendums and preliminary reports cannot be unsigned via the “Undo Sign” action. This means that, in most cases, ORU messages for addendums and preliminary reports are sent immediately, and you’ll use “Revert to Draft” after the ORU is sent. The only exception is when the outbound status is “Error”.

Scenario	Report status change on revert	Outbound status change on revert	Downstream effect
Signed report, ORU not sent	“Signed” → “Draft” (Report Manager and report lists)	“Queued” / “Pending” / “Error” → “Cancelled”	ORU canceled, sent on next sign
Signed report, ORU sent	“Signed” → “Draft” (Report Manager)  “Finalized” → “Draft” (report lists)	No change, remains as “Sent”	No new ORU, downstream systems unchanged. New ORU sent on next sign.
Signed addendum, ORU not sent (due to error)	“Amended” → “Signed” (Report Manager) “Finalized (A)” → “Draft (A)” (report lists)	“Error” → [blank]	ORU canceled, sent on next sign
Signed addendum, ORU sent	“Amended” → “Signed” (Report Manager)* “Finalized (A)” → “Draft (A)” (report lists)*	No change, remains as “Sent”	No new ORU, downstream systems unchanged. New ORU sent on next sign.
Signed preliminary report, ORU not sent (due to error)	Remains as “Draft” (Report Manager) “Preliminary” → “Draft” (report lists)	“Error” → [blank]	ORU canceled, sent on next sign
Signed preliminary report, ORU sent	Remains as “Draft” (Report Manager) “Preliminary” → “Draft” (report lists)	No change, remains as “Sent”	No new ORU, downstream systems unchanged. New ORU sent on next sign.

* If there are multiple addendums, the overall report will remain “Amended”/”Finalized (A)” until all addendums are reverted to draft. Learn more.

Troubleshooting

Why is the "Revert to Draft" button disabled?

If in the Report Manager "Revert to Draft" is grayed out or you see an error when you click it, check the following:

• Permissions – Make sure your role has "Admin Access" and either:
  • "Revert Report to Draft (Before ORU Sent)", or
  • "Revert Report to Draft (After ORU Sent)"
     
• Report status – The report (or addendum) must be in an eligible status:
  • "Signed" or "Amended" in the Report Manager, or
  • "Preliminary" (for preliminary reports) in report lists
     
• Outbound status changed – The ORU status may have changed since you opened the report (for example, from "Queued" to "Sent"), and your permission only covers before or after ORU is sent. Re-check the outbound status and, if needed, request the other revert permission.
   
• External reports/addendums – For reports or addendums created in an external system, "Revert to Draft" is intentionally disabled due to a technical limitation.

 

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between “Undo Sign” and “Revert Report to Draft”?

“Undo Sign” is a time‑limited action radiologists can use to unsign a report. It’s tied to the signing user’s personal “Undo Sign” time limit, and can only be applied to standard signed reports (not addendums or preliminary reports). Any user with the “Sign Report” permission can unsign a report. Learn more about undoing the signing of a report.

“Revert Report to Draft” is an admin‑only action that lets you revert signed reports, addendums, and preliminary reports to draft status either before the ORU is sent or, with the appropriate permission, after the ORU has already been delivered downstream. Users with the “Admin Access” permission and the “Revert Report to Draft” permission can perform this action.

 

What happens to the previous signed version when I revert a report or addendum to draft—can I still see what changed?

When you revert, the report or addendum moves back to “Draft” (or “Draft (A)”), but the previous signed versions aren’t lost. You can:

• Use the Version History tab in the Report Manager dialog to review earlier signed versions of the report and see how the content has changed over time.
   
• Use the Activity tab in Report Manager and the Activity view in the report workbench to see an audit trail of key report events, including who performed each action and when.

 

What happens downstream when a report is reverted to draft after the ORU has been sent?

When you revert a report to draft after the ORU message has been sent, no new ORU messages are sent and the existing ORU is not canceled. The outbound status remains as “Sent”. If you then sign the report, addendum, or preliminary report again, a new ORU will attempt to send as per usual. 

 

Does the “Revert Report to Draft (After ORU Sent)” permission also let me revert signed reports before the ORU is sent?

Yes. The “Revert Report to Draft (After ORU Sent)” permission covers both scenarios: it lets you revert reports that have already had an ORU sent, and it also allows you to revert reports that are still in “Pending”, “Queued”, or “Error” status before the ORU is sent. You don’t need both permissions if you have this one.

 

Can I revert multiple addendums to draft in one go?

No. Addendums must be reverted one at a time. If a report has multiple addendums, you’ll need to open the amended report in Report Manager and use the “Revert to Draft” action separately for each addendum.

 

Does reverting a report to draft affect associated studies or linked exams in any way?

No. Reverting a report, preliminary report, or addendum to draft does not change its associated studies or linked exams. All existing study associations remain intact in both cases—whether you revert before the ORU is sent or after it has already been delivered downstream. Only the report and outbound statuses are changed.