The project evolved from an in-depth evaluation of the reasons that diagnostic imaging examinations were not interpreted in a timely manner. The radiology department's objective was to have all exams read within five business days from the time they were performed.
A quality assurance committee identified 12 potential issues, which led to a department workflow redesign. The committee also identified the need for a real-time electronic system with the capability of tracking and monitoring radiology exam status in both the hospital's RIS and PACS.
A radiology operations dashboard, developed internally by the hospital's information technology department, flags cases and sends out automatic notifications via e-mail and pager to both clinical and support staff responsible for the delays. These individuals include residents, fellows, radiologists, transcriptionists, and department managers.
The dashboard was launched in June 2005 and began to monitor an imaging volume of 20,000 exams per month; that number has grown to 30,000 exams per month today. Chun-Shan Yam, the radiology department's director of computing, will explain the dashboard's working and continuing evolution of improvements.
