Analytics

Article – Radiology Staffing: How to Do More with Less

dondennison Radiology , , , ,

A lot of people are talking about using analytics to make operational improvements (read as: lowering costs while improving quality of service), but this article describes some specific ways to do this within a Radiology practice.

Examples (from the article)…

  • Use actual procedure data to determine the specialty needed, as well as the number of staff needed in each facility/location. It also helps determine if full-time or part-time staff are needed.
  • Adapt the daily shift schedule based on hourly exam volume peaks.

The article also explains how technology is used to improve efficiency…

  • Cloud based image sharing, integrated with PACS, to distribute reading of exams among distributed Radiologists.
  • Shared worklist across facilities

Article – CPOE use can reduce unneeded CT scans

dondennison Radiology , , ,

Not a mind-blowing revelation, but when doctors are told that the information they want already exists, they don’t order more tests (usually).

And while the results of the study summarized in this article reflect only a small decrease in new CT exams being ordered (“physicians canceled orders after receiving the alerts about 6 percent of the time, making for a net cancellation of 1.7 percent of studies. In a control group, physicians canceled only .9 percent of alerts.”), every bit counts.

And it reduces the radiation the patient receives, as well as helps keep the Radiology schedule free for really important exams.

A goal to simply reduce the number of exams performed is misguided. This blog post summarizes a proposed model to help separate the necessary from unnecessary exams.

Article – The 8 RIS innovations you need now

dondennison Healthcare IT , , , ,

Here is a summary (note: may need to register with site to access) of some RIS (Radiology Information System) innovations that providers should be looking for.

Sneak peek…

  1. Digital dashboards
  2. Electronic medical record aggregation
  3. Clinical decision support
  4. Critical results reporting
  5. Customer service
  6. Technologist feedback
  7. Peer review
  8. Data mining, surveillance, and outcomes

I am working on an article on how (and why) RIS and PACS will be deconstructed and will not exist (as we know them today) in the future. Stay tuned for that.

Article – Creating a Clearer Picture of Patient Flow

dondennison Radiology , , , ,

This is cool.

It would be interesting to see the convergence of the output of SIIM‘s SWIM initiative and this application to understand real-time metrics of a Radiology department. The dashboard could show the actual location of patients, their spot in the prescribed workflow, and the comparison to statistical norms and/or KPIs.

Layered on top of a BI (business intelligence) platform for historic data analysis, and you would have something special.