Introduction: The reporting practices of sonographers are variable and evolving. Many sonographers perform reporting roles in one form or another. For instance, New Zealand public employment contracts now recognise an independent “reporting sonographer” role. The key question is whether sonographer reporting is safe.
Methods: Three large published studies on the accuracy of New Zealand sonographers were reviewed.
Results: The studies have assessed the accuracy of sonographers by comparing reports independently composed by sonographers with those composed by radiologists, and comparing any discrepancies with final clinical outcomes. Study 1 included 1000 reports on examinations identified as “normal” by the sonographer. Study 2 included 1142 reports independently issued by sonographers on cohort of 1000 complex hospital patients (acute patients and inpatients). Study 3 involved 650 reports on obstetric patients in a high-risk antenatal clinic. The total number of reports included in the three studies was 2792. Sonographers and radiologists committed a comparable number of errors: sonographers 11 and radiologists 10. In no single instance did the radiologist’s second reading uncover a missed case of an acute or serious illness, illness requiring admission or a condition requiring expedited clinical review. Independent sonographer reporting is safe and the routine involvement of radiologists in ultrasound reporting is not necessary.
Conclusion: We recommend that health authorities and professional bodies develop systems and processes to enable sonographers to report the majority of ultrasound examinations independently and only seek radiologists' input when required.

Overview: Electronic reporting has continued to develop with advances in technology. However, many practices continue to use paper worksheets due to misconceptions about electronic reporting. The major advantage of electronic reporting is clarity of communication. Legibility of worksheets is an issue, leading to reporting errors. Transcription of measurements and plotting of biometry on graphs can also be inaccurate with manual worksheets. Electronic worksheet/reporting systems allow for uniformity of report format which is preferred by referrers. The perceived disadvantages of electronic reporting are limited diagrammatic representation of information and expense of implementation. Over recent years, drawing surfaces have been developed that allow graphic representation of information. It is now possible to embed hyperlinks to websites and publications e.g. O-RADS tables, insert diagrams and tables into reports, and to automatically generate report text from data in the worksheet. Worksheet and report design can be tailored to national guidelines or local referrer preference. Electronic worksheet/reporting systems also offer the sonographer legal protection as they cannot be altered or accessed without trackability and time stamping. This is useful in documentation for consumer complaint and adverse outcome processes. Additional to the known advantages of electronic reporting, new advantages due to better integration with radiologist reporting systems and ultrasound machines should be considered. Systems that produce preliminary reports for the radiologist decrease reporting times of cases which financially outweigh the initial cost of implementation.
Take home message: Practices currently using manual worksheets should consider conversion to electronic worksheet/reporting systems to improve reporting times, format, and accuracy.

Big topic to cover in 20 minutes. However, this presentation attempts to shed light on the positives male sonographers can bring to the profession, the unique challenges male sonographers face, and areas where men in this profession can lift their game.
A presentation for junior sonographers starting, and some food for thought for the experienced who believe in a fair and equitable workplace.