When staff members at Montefiore Medical Center realized the appointment delay for a pediatric MRI scan with sedation was more than seven weeks, they knew it was time to take action.
Scheduling wasn't the only issue. The median start time for the first scan of the day was 90 minutes after the exam's scheduled time. In addition, the rate of same-day cancellations was more than 20%, in part due to ineffectual prescreening for sedation suitability.
How did Montefiore solve its problems? Dr. Shlomit Goldberg-Stein, an associate professor of radiology, will present details on the facility's four-point structured performance improvement plan, dubbed SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely).
So far, the results are impressive: In less than two years, start time improved by 35% for the day's first pediatric MRI scan with sedation, while same-day cancellations due to poor screening decreased to 10%. Perhaps most important, the delay in booking an appointment fell from 51 to 12 days.
