Today, there is a lack of documented best practices or standard criteria from clinical or medical associations to assist hospitals in assessing the caliber of radiology providers. Currently, radiology best practices focus on productivity, workflow and cost because they are easily measured, but this is only a fraction of the total value radiology can bring to a hospital.
By establishing "best practice" criteria, and by setting standards by which to measure a radiologist’s performance to those best practices, the entire practice of radiology is elevated to a new level of value to referring physicians, and the hospital at large. Radiologists will better serve physicians, allowing physicians to better serve patients, which is the ultimate goal of everyone in healthcare.
Radiology Standards:
- Subspecialty: Provide top-quality coverage in 8 subspecialties and ensure all high-tech imaging is read by subspecialists
- Turnaround Time: Define, measure and guarantee TATs for final reports (STAT and routine) 24/7 (no nighthawk)
- Consultation: Ensure on-demand consultations 24/7
- Peer Review: Conduct proactive, double-blind peer review
- Concurrence Review: Automatically double-read all high risk studies
- Critical Findings: Proactively call ordering physician at the time of diagnosis for all critical findings
- Checklist-driven Reporting: Improve accuracy and consistency by integrating a diagnostic checklist workflow
- Interventional Radiology: Ensure appropriate coverage
- Utilization Insight: Grow revenue and manage resource utilization with proactive data analysis and oversight
- Leadership: Ensure radiologists actively participate in MEC and Tumor Board meetings