As the incoming radiology group assuming service of one of the biggest healthcare systems in the U.S., Radiology Specialists of Florida (RSF) was tasked with addressing inefficiencies in the hospital's diagnostic radiology department, said senior author and presenter Dr. Laura Bancroft.
A number of interventions were performed, including increasing radiologist productivity via reorganization of the PACS worklists, as well as using speech recognition templates, incentives, and swing shifts that matched radiologists to study volumes, she said. Communication logistics were also improved between the ED and the radiology department.
Analysis showed that turnaround times of CT studies arriving at the PACS station dropped 52% over five years, while radiologist interpretation time dropped 80%.
"Turnaround times can be markedly improved by assuming ownership and addressing inefficiencies in the individual components of system-wide and radiologist-dependent processes," Bancroft told AuntMinnie.com.
The researchers also noted that overall time from patient arrival to discharge from the ED proved to be partly, but not solely, dependent upon radiology department functionality.
"Although ED attendings were given the finalized reports sooner after interventions were enacted, there was not a direct correlation with time to discharge from the ED," she said.
