RSNA report templates improve US report turnaround time

Tuesday, November 30 | 12:45 p.m.-1:15 p.m. | LL-QSE3035-TUB | Lakeside Learning Center
Improving report turnaround time for ultrasound exams can be challenging due to complex workflows involving sonographers, radiologists, and other radiology staff. This challenge can be even greater when a radiologist both performs and reports the findings of the examination.

The radiology department at Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, has found that the use of RSNA reporting templates and a speech recognition software system has provided a faster way to generate near-real-time reporting for priority and "stat" exams.

The radiology department initially utilized the FADE (focus, analyze, develop, execute) process for performance improvement, according to poster presenter Kashif Mirza, MD, a radiologist at the hospital. A team consisting of informatics experts, radiologists, and members of the hospital's continuous quality improvement committee was formed to find solutions to efficiency barriers that were identified.

The team developed a priority reporting system based on inpatient and outpatient requirements and referring physicians' requests and feedback. A diagnostic workstation installed with speech recognition software that used RSNA reporting templates was put in the ultrasound examination room.

Although radiologists initially reported that they felt burdened to report the exams as soon as they were completed, the availability of the report templates made the workflow process more acceptable to them. A survey determined that referring physicians were very pleased with the turnaround time improvements, and with the completeness and consistency of the report content based on use of the RSNA templates.

Mirza will discuss in greater detail the findings of the before and after analyses.

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