Expediting the turnaround of radiology reports: use of total quality management to facilitate radiologists' report signing.

Seltzer, Steven E.; Kelly, Pauline; Adams, D F; Chiango, B F; Viera, M. A. Hernández; Fener, E; Rondeau, R; Kazanjian, N; Laffel, Glenn; Shaffer, Kenneth M.

doi:10.2214/ajr.162.4.8140990

Cited by 50 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…For comparison, finalization of transcripts deserves some attention. One study found 14 specific reasons for signoff delays [10]. By carefully scrutinizing the processes, some of these obstacles can be overcome [11], and we believe that processoriented RIS and PACS address some of them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Learning Curve of Speech Recognition

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Speech recognition (SR) speeds patient care processes by reducing report turnaround times. However, concerns have emerged about prolonged training and an added secretarial burden for radiologists. We assessed how much proofing radiologists who have years of experience with SR and radiologists new to SR must perform, and estimated how quickly the new users become as skilled as the experienced users. We studied SR log entries for 0.25 million reports from 154 radiologists and after careful exclusions, defined a group of 11 experienced radiologists and 71 radiologists new to SR (24,833 and 122,093 reports, respectively). Data were analyzed for sound file and report lengths, character-based error rates, and words unknown to the SR's dictionary. Experienced radiologists corrected 6 characters for each report and for new users, 11. Some users presented a very unfavorable learning curve, with error rates not declining as expected. New users' reports were longer, and data for the experienced users indicates that their reports, initially equally lengthy, shortened over a period of several years. For most radiologists, only minor corrections of dictated reports were necessary. While new users adopted SR quickly, with a subset outperforming experienced users from the start, identification of users struggling with SR will help facilitate troubleshooting and support.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Learning Curve of Speech Recognition

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Delays in report verification occur for many reasons: (a) unavailability of radiologists on evenings, weekends, and vacations, (b) necessity for double signatures (by a trainee and a staff member), (c) lack of free time during the workday to sign reports, (d) lack of available access terminals, (e) low motivation, (f ) large volumes of reports that require careful scrutiny, (g) limited direct rewards for signing cases promptly, (h) lack of communication and synchrony in schedules between the transcriptionist and radiologist, and (i) lack of awareness that reports are even available for signature (26).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seltzer et al (26) used techniques of total quality management to speed radiologists in signing reports. The interventions they enacted included installing home computer terminals and a buddy system for proxy signing, eliminating the requirement for a trainee signature (ie, double signature), adding more computer terminals, improving radiologist motivation, teaming groups of radiologists with specific transcriptionists, and streamlining the transcription service.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The interventions they enacted included installing home computer terminals and a buddy system for proxy signing, eliminating the requirement for a trainee signature (ie, double signature), adding more computer terminals, improving radiologist motivation, teaming groups of radiologists with specific transcriptionists, and streamlining the transcription service. These authors found that the mean time required to sign reports decreased by 59% (from an initial value of 26.0 hours [SD ϭ 8.4 hours] to 10.6 hours [SD ϭ 2.9 hours]) through use of these steps (26). The gains were hard to maintain, however; within 4 months after the pilot study, 20% of the benefit had been lost.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Impact of Pager Notification on Report Verification Times

Oğuz¹,

Yousem²,

Deluca³

et al. 2002

Academic Radiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

verification times of each physician were collected for 3 months in the years before and after initiation of the PNS. Radiologists enrolled in the PNS and those who were not were assigned into two groups for analysis. Mean TOVs for the two sets of 3 months and for the two groups were calculated and differences recorded. Two-tailed t tests were used to assess for statistical differences between the groups.Results. Twenty-nine of 37 radiologists voluntarily enrolled in the PNS (group 1). Mean TOV was 26.75 hours (standard deviation [SD] ϭ 17.76) for these physicians before and 14.48 hours (SD ϭ 11.86) after the PNS was employed (P Ͻ .01). For those physicians who did not enroll in the PNS, mean TOV was 11.53 hours (SD ϭ 5.55) before and 9.77 hours (SD ϭ 9.86) after the PNS was employed (P ϭ .33). Both the absolute and percentage reductions in TOVs were significantly greater for those physicians enrolled in the PNS than for those who were not (P ϭ .035). Twenty-three of 29 (79%) physicians who used the PNS showed a reduction in their report turnaround times. Conclusion.Linking the PNS with the radiology information system to notify physicians of unsigned reports was effective in reducing report verification times.Key Words. Clinical operations, radiology reporting, economics. © AUR, 2002Improving turnaround times for radiology reports has been one of the major concerns in a practice. In addition to improving communication between physicians by producing an official report more rapidly, a reduction in turnaround times can also produce increased revenue because of the fewer days during which charges are in accounts receivable (1-8). Report turnaround times are also one of the standards regulated by the American College of Radiology (Standard for Communication-Diagnostic Radiology), accreditation organizations, utilization review panels, and some managed care organizations. From a medicolegal standpoint, a single untoward event resulting from a delay in transcription and report verification could lead to a monetary settlement that far outweighs the cost of extra transcriptionists or information technology solutions.As some departments have evolved from paper production of radiology reports to a complete electronic patient record, use of electronic signatures in radiology reports has become common. Previously, transcribed paper reports could be placed at the radiologist's location for immediate signature after a transcriptionist concluded a parcel of work. Whether those reports actually were signed immediately, were edited and retyped, or were left for Acad Radiol 2002; 9:954 -959

show abstract

“…There has been little formal documentation in the literature specifically describing errors that can result from implementation of these filters, but any PACS administrator knows it is critical to ensure that such filters used in a radiology department provide coverage over all performed exams such that all exams performed are interpreted. Indeed, many authors have described efforts to monitor undictated and unsigned reports which indicate that exams can and do slip through the cracks, in some cases likely due to PACS filtering [1][2][3][4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Notification System to Address PACS Filter Deficiencies and Ensure Timely Interpretation of Neonatal Exams

Filice

2016

J Digit Imaging

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Filtered radiology worklists can result in exams that slip through the cracks and do not get interpreted. We discovered an error that caused neonatal exams to not be displayed on our worklists, and therefore, these exams were not interpreted in a timely fashion. Because of familiarity with our departmental data, we were able to rapidly build a notification tool to alert us to these exams. This tool resulted in clinically significant impact on interpretation turnaround time and care of neonates in our hospital.

show abstract

Expediting the turnaround of radiology reports: use of total quality management to facilitate radiologists' report signing.

Cited by 50 publications

References 4 publications

Learning Curve of Speech Recognition

Learning Curve of Speech Recognition

Impact of Pager Notification on Report Verification Times

Notification System to Address PACS Filter Deficiencies and Ensure Timely Interpretation of Neonatal Exams

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About