This article provides practical tips to help you fill out templates in Rad AI Reporting more quickly and efficiently.
Following these best practices will reduce the need for manual field navigation and template corrections, while still giving you full control over the final wording of the report.
In this article:
Overview
Templates are pre-defined pieces of content that structure and populate studies. They help speed up the reporting process and standardize reports across your organization. You can apply them to a report manually or automatically via template auto-launch rules. Learn more about templates and macros.
The following best practices will enable you to fill out reports faster, reduce repetitive edits, and ensure your reports are accurate and consistent across cases.
💡 This article is about using templates. To learn how to configure templates to optimize them for Omni AI, see Best practices: Optimizing templates for Omni AI features.
Templates and macros
1) Subscribe to collections for quick access to templates
Templates and macros live in collections at three levels: personal, site, all sites. Subscribing to a collection makes those templates appear in the Templates view of the report workbench and allows them to be applied via voice command (e.g., “template [name/custom phrase]”).
Recommendation
✅ Subscribe to personal, site, and other users’ collections for fast and easy access while in the report workbench. Learn how to subscribe to a collection.
2) Apply a template or macro first
When you apply a template, it overwrites everything currently in the template editor, while a macro simply inserts content at your cursor’s location in the report without deleting or replacing any of the current text.
Omni AI works best when a relevant template or macro is applied before you start dictating into the Omni Box. If you wait until after dictation or use an incomplete structure, you may need to spend additional time editing and/or reorganizing your report.
Recommendation
✅ Apply a relevant template or macro before you dictate findings into the Omni Box. Learn more about templates and macros.
3) Use voice commands when possible
Using voice commands is one of the fastest ways to apply templates and use Omni AI features. Instead of manually clicking through menus or typing out template names, you can simply speak the command.
Recommendation
Use voice commands for templates, macros, and Omni Box actions. Learn more about voice commands.
Examples:
- To insert a template, say, "Template [name/custom phrase]".
- To insert a macro, say, “Macro [reusable phrase/finding]”.
- To navigate to the Omni Box to start dictating findings, say “Omni Box”
- To populate the entire report based on your Omni Box dictation, say, “Omni Report”.
4) Add a clear name for the template or macro
To apply a template or macro via voice command, you must speak its name exactly as it's defined in the Settings view in the template editor. For example, a template named “CT Chest without” can be applied by saying “Template CT Chest without”. This is true for macros as well.
If the name is unclear, overly complex, or contains abbreviations or punctuation (e.g., ChestCTldwo), the voice command may not be recognized.
Recommendation
Choose a name for the template or macro—without punctuation or abbreviations—that you can say clearly via voice command. Learn how to add a template/macro name.
Example:
❌ “Template CTAbd/Pelw/wo”
✅ “Template CT Abdomen and Pelvis with and without”
5) Use custom phrases for complex template or macro names
If the name of the template or macro is long or complex, you can add a shorter custom phrase for the voice command.
If no custom phrase is set, you’ll need to say the name of the template or macro exactly as it’s written (including punctuation) in the Name field or else the voice command won’t work.
Recommendation
Set a shorter custom phrase (without punctuation) for the template or macro to avoid having to speak its entire name each time. Learn how to add a custom phrase.
Example:
❌ “Site 2 West - CT Kidney Stone Protocol”
✅ “CT stone”
6) Set template auto-launch rules for common procedures
In traditional reporting workflows, radiologists must manually select and apply the appropriate template for each study, which can feel repetitive and increase the risk of errors.
With template auto-launch rules, Rad AI Reporting automatically loads the correct template based on the procedure code, so you can start dictating findings immediately without extra clicks or voice commands.
Recommendation
✅ Configure template auto-launch rules for all common procedures at the personal, site, or organization level. Learn more about template auto-launch rules.
Omni Box
1) Let Omni Box populate template fields for you
Traditional reporting workflows require you to move through templates field by field, inserting findings as you go, which can be time consuming. With Omni Box, you can dictate findings freely in any order and let the AI place content into the correct sections of the report for you.
Recommendation
✅ Instead of navigating manually through the template, dictate your findings into the Omni Box. Then say “Omni Report” (for new reports) or “Omni Unchanged” (for follow-up reports). Learn more about our Omni AI features.
2) Use punctuation when dictating
While Omni Box usually produces correct output even if you don’t dictate punctuation (e.g., “period”, “comma”), there may be instances where the lack of punctuation can lead to an unexpected result, such as a finding or recommendation landing in the wrong template field/picklist.
Recommendation
Add punctuation while dictating to avoid errors. This ensures that Omni Box displays content with the correct and intended meaning.
Example: If you combine a finding and a recommendation into one long sentence, Omni Box may treat everything as a single finding.
❌ Without a period:
The dictation, “There is a 5 millimeter right upper lobe pulmonary nodule recommend follow up CT chest in 12 months”, results in the following report output:
- NODULE: There is a 5 millimeter right upper lobe pulmonary nodule recommend follow up CT chest in 12 months
- RECOMMENDATION:
✅ With a period:
The dictation, “There is a 5 millimeter right upper lobe pulmonary nodule. Recommend follow up CT chest in 12 months” results in the following output:
- NODULE: There is a 5 millimeter right upper lobe pulmonary nodule.
- RECOMMENDATION: Recommend follow up CT chest in 12 months.
Learn more about best practices for dictation.
3) Always review the final report before signing
Omni is intended to support your reporting workflow, not replace your clinical judgment. Even with carefully designed templates and efficient usage patterns, you are responsible for ensuring that the report is accurate, clear, and clinically appropriate.
Recommendation
✅ Before signing, ensure that every field and section of the report—expecially those that are auto-populated by Omni Box, like findings and the impression—accurately reflects your dictation, with no missing information, repeated content, or contradictory statements.
Frequently asked questions
When should I use a template versus a macro?
Use a template to set up the full report structure at the start of a case. Use macros to insert reusable phrases or sections into an already‑applied template.
What happens if I apply a template after I’ve already started dictating or editing the report?
Applying a template overwrites the current report body, so you should apply the template first and then dictate or use Omni AI features.
Can I change templates after one is already applied without losing my work?
Applying a new template overwrites the report body, so if you need to switch, copy any important text out first—or use macros/fragments instead of switching the base template.
Why don’t I see a template I know exists for my site?
You may not be subscribed to that collection, or you might not have permissions for that collection level (e.g., site vs. all‑sites). Subscribing to the right collection usually fixes this. Learn how to subscribe to a collection.
Why didn’t my template launch automatically for this study?
Either there’s no auto‑launch rule for that procedure code, or a different rule (personal/site/all‑sites) is taking precedence. Check your template auto‑launch rules for that exam. Learn more about template auto-launch rules.
Why are some findings showing up in an “Additional findings” section instead of under the expected header?
This usually means the template isn’t fully optimized for Omni AI (e.g., generic field names or missing default text). Learn how to optimize templates for Omni AI features.