Dr. Luis Concepción Aramendía presented a paper at the II Conference on Patient Safety suggesting that 30% of imaging tests that are requested do not contain the necessary justification when the impact of the test result on the treatment or diagnosis of the patient are taken into account, SERAM said in a news release issued on 22 November.

The justification for requesting tests is very important, SERAM said. It is a critical element in the issue of radiation protection and must be done in a collaborative effort in which all of the integral elements in the radiological process participate, according to the organization.

"To minimize radiation exposure to the population, it is essential to ensure access in reasonable time to other diagnostic modalities such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging," the press release continued.

In addition, computerized support systems can help decision-making and increase test performance, SERAM said.