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Radiology’s New Focus on Quality
by Cat Vasko

Radiologists, like all physicians, have always been concerned about the quality of their work, but in recent years, the specialty's focus on quality has been renewed. Paul Larson, MD, chair of the Commission on Quality and Safety of the ACR®, says, "Historically, we looked almost exclusively at whether we got the right answers in our reports. What's changed is the recognition that there are a lot more factors that define overall quality."

The increasing emphasis on quality has an impact on both business and clinical operations, Larson observes. On the business side, radiologists are affected by the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) and other pay-for-performance measures; on the clinical side, more attention is being paid to factors such as critical-results communication and report structure. "Quality has become increasingly visible and increasingly measured," Larson says. "The ability to measure and the ability to improve form a cycle that feeds on itself."

Taking QA to the Next Level
by Cat Vasko

Medicine in general is evolving toward a patient-centered, outcomes-based model, and radiology should be no exception, according to Timothy Myers, MD, senior vice president and CMO of NightHawk Radiology Services, Scottsdale, Arizona. "We're looking at things less from the standpoint of the physician and more from the standpoint of the patient, and medicolegally, that's where it's always been," Myers observes. "Everyone's moving toward an outcomes-based approach. If our patients don't get better, or experience an issue with the care we give them, we need to reevaluate."

Quality assurance (QA) in radiology has customarily focused on how difficult an abnormality is to detect, Myers says; for example, the ACR's RADPEER™ program, founded in 2002, ranks discrepancies based on how often radiologists should make the diagnosis, with RADPEER level 4 findings defined as those for which a given diagnosis should be made nearly every time that they are encountered.

NightHawk Radiology Services QA at Belleville Memorial: Case Study
by George Wiley

Since the first of the year, radiologists at Advanced Diagnostic Imaging (ADI), Belleville, Ill, have been using a new outcomes-based quality assurance program from NightHawk Radiology Services, Scottsdale, Ariz. NightHawk developed the program to realign quality assurance with patient care, focusing first on the effect a discrepancy may have on clinical outcomes and making the subjective visibility of a finding a secondary concern. ADI's 10 radiologists use the teleradiology provider's Quality Assurance Program to track potential discrepancies in nighttime preliminary interpretations done by NightHawk radiologists, explains Linde Flanders, MHA, MBA; Flanders is business services director for the group, which provides radiology services for Belleville's Memorial Hospital.

Your portal for an interactive collection of interesting cases, papers, reference materials, links, webinars and commentary.

View Now
Quality Assurance Program Overview Webinar

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View Now
Quality Assurance Online Ticketing System Webinar

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RSVP, August 24th, 10:30 AM PST
Client Peer Review Program Overview

CMS' Hospital Compare Adds to Imaging Quality Scrutiny

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Quality of the Written Radiology Report

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Lessons From the Radiology Events Register

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