Overview

The CriticalFindingAlert event is triggered when radiologists identify unexpected, life-threatening findings on imaging studies.

Event Data

{
  "eventId": "uuid",
  "eventType": "CriticalFindingAlert",
  "timestamp": "ISO 8601",
  "data": {
    "studyId": "string",
    "patientId": "string",
    "mrn": "string",
    "radiologistId": "string",
    "criticalFinding": "string",
    "modality": "string",
    "orderingProvider": "string",
    "notificationMethod": "page | phone",
    "readReceiptRequired": "boolean"
  }
}

Critical Findings Examples

Pulmonary

• Pulmonary Embolism (PE): Blood clot in lungs
• Pneumothorax: Collapsed lung
• Tension Pneumothorax: Life-threatening

Vascular

• Aortic Dissection: Tear in aorta wall
• Ruptured AAA: Abdominal aortic aneurysm
• Acute Stroke: Intracranial hemorrhage

Abdominal

• Bowel Perforation: Surgical emergency
• Ruptured Ectopic Pregnancy
• Acute Appendicitis

Other

• Intracranial Mass: Unexpected tumor/bleed
• Fracture: In trauma setting
• Foreign Body: Unexpected finding

Notification Workflow

Radiologists must directly communicate critical findings:

1. Identify critical finding
2. Immediate call to ordering provider
3. Document conversation in radiology report
4. Note time, person spoken to, and their response
5. If cannot reach provider, escalate to supervisor/attending