School of Medicine and Health Sciences Poster Presentations
Reducing administrative burden of radiology-guided procedures: an interdisciplinary intervention
Document Type
Poster
Abstract Category
Quality Improvement
Keywords
QI
Publication Date
Spring 5-1-2019
Abstract
Radiology guided procedures are an integral part of the diagnosis and management of many medical conditions. While hospitalists are able to perform many bedside procedures, certain scenarios necessitate ultrasound or CT guidance which can only be done in conjunction with the radiology department and ancillary staff. Participants included internal medicine residents, radiology residents, unit secretaries, and nursing staff. ‚ÄØPlan Do Study Act methodology was utilized for this project. Baseline data was obtained to measure the number of steps internal medicine residents needed to take in order to successfully schedule and complete a radiology procedure. Certain parts of the process, including transfer of labels and specimens between departments, order forms, faxing capabilities of the EMR were reviewed.‚ÄØ Survey of medical residents was conducted to identify deficiencies in the process and to quantify the number of steps each resident needed to perform in order to successfully order and submit a specimen collected from a procedure performed by Radiology. Baseline data showed it took Internal Medicine residents 10 steps on average to complete the order process. The most time-consuming steps were completing the Radiology procedure order form, delivering the specimen to the lab, and transporting the patient to Radiology. Eight months after the implementation of new policies including nursing staff/unit secretaries placing order labels in patient charts and Radiology residents physically submitting specimens to labs, another survey was conducted that showed a decrease in the number of steps taken by Internal Medicine residents to complete order process for Radiology procedures. Implementation of a multidisciplinary approach is required in reducing the burden on Internal Medicine residents in ordering and successfully submitting specimens collected from radiology procedures. There is further work to be done in order to streamline the process, specifically submitting order forms via faxing function of EMR, but there has been a reduction in the number of steps required by the residents with the help of nursing staff/unit secretaries and Radiology residents.
Open Access
1
Reducing administrative burden of radiology-guided procedures: an interdisciplinary intervention
Radiology guided procedures are an integral part of the diagnosis and management of many medical conditions. While hospitalists are able to perform many bedside procedures, certain scenarios necessitate ultrasound or CT guidance which can only be done in conjunction with the radiology department and ancillary staff. Participants included internal medicine residents, radiology residents, unit secretaries, and nursing staff. ‚ÄØPlan Do Study Act methodology was utilized for this project. Baseline data was obtained to measure the number of steps internal medicine residents needed to take in order to successfully schedule and complete a radiology procedure. Certain parts of the process, including transfer of labels and specimens between departments, order forms, faxing capabilities of the EMR were reviewed.‚ÄØ Survey of medical residents was conducted to identify deficiencies in the process and to quantify the number of steps each resident needed to perform in order to successfully order and submit a specimen collected from a procedure performed by Radiology. Baseline data showed it took Internal Medicine residents 10 steps on average to complete the order process. The most time-consuming steps were completing the Radiology procedure order form, delivering the specimen to the lab, and transporting the patient to Radiology. Eight months after the implementation of new policies including nursing staff/unit secretaries placing order labels in patient charts and Radiology residents physically submitting specimens to labs, another survey was conducted that showed a decrease in the number of steps taken by Internal Medicine residents to complete order process for Radiology procedures. Implementation of a multidisciplinary approach is required in reducing the burden on Internal Medicine residents in ordering and successfully submitting specimens collected from radiology procedures. There is further work to be done in order to streamline the process, specifically submitting order forms via faxing function of EMR, but there has been a reduction in the number of steps required by the residents with the help of nursing staff/unit secretaries and Radiology residents.
Comments
Presented at Research Days 2019.