Can breast surgeons be taught to read mammograms as well as radiologists do? One study certainly thinks so.

South African research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons earlier this month suggests that surgeons can be trained to read mammograms as well as radiologists. A prospective study of 10,020 mammograms found that “the diagnostic accuracy of the breast surgical team was similar to that of specially trained, dedicated breast radiologists in national European and Australian screening programs. The surgeons’ accuracy was higher than that of typical U.S. radiologists reading mammograms,” according to a press release announcing the study.

It’s not difficult to envision training breast surgeons to interpret mammograms. While one study does change work patterns, when you consider how unpopular reading mammograms among radiologists—as well as the shortage of breast imaging specialists in some areas—carving out the work seems to have merit. While many radiologists don’t want the work, they should cautiously consider encouraging such competition. If radiology turns mammography over to breast surgeons, hands over plain films to the emergency docs, leaves obstetrical ultrasound to Ob/Gyns, and so on, where does it end?

More importantly, what message is received outside radiology? Radiology certainly doesn’t want to convey the message that the physicians specializing in various body parts and systems should be the ones who interpret images of those areas. Moving much of imaging’s technical component outside of radiology has caused enough problems for the specialty; carving out select pieces of the professional component seems like a bad long-term bet. Radiology can’t expect to control the selecting.

With all the concern expressed about the commoditization of radiology, it seems that parsing out pieces of interpretation would only contribute to that perception. To paraphrase Paul J. Chang, MD speaking at last year’s SIIM meeting, commoditization is great when it makes your flat screen TV cheap, but not so much when it’s your that job is commoditized. The best future for radiologists will come by making it clear to everyone in healthcare that radiology is the heart of quality diagnostic imaging regardless of the body part involved.