Integrated automatic examination assignment reduces radiologist interruptions: A 2-year cohort study of 232,022 examinations Journal Article
| Authors: | Law, W.; Terzic, A.; Chaim, J.; Erinjeri, J. P.; Hricak, H.; Vargas, H. A.; Becker, A. S. |
| Article Title: | Integrated automatic examination assignment reduces radiologist interruptions: A 2-year cohort study of 232,022 examinations |
| Abstract: | Radiology departments face challenges in delivering timely and accurate imaging reports, especially in high-volume, subspecialized settings. In this retrospective cohort study at a tertiary cancer center, we assessed the efficacy of an Automatic Assignment System (AAS) in improving radiology workflow efficiency by analyzing 232,022 CT examinations over a 12-month period post-implementation and compared it to a historical control period. The AAS was integrated with the hospital-wide scheduling system and set up to automatically prioritize and distribute unreported CT examinations to available radiologists based on upcoming patient appointments, coupled with an email notification system. Following this AAS implementation, despite a 9% rise in CT volume, coupled with a concurrent 8% increase in the number of available radiologists, the mean daily urgent radiology report requests (URR) significantly decreased by 60% (25 ± 12 to 10 ± 5, t = -17.6, p < 0.001), and URR during peak days (95th quantile) was reduced by 52.2% from 46 to 22 requests. Additionally, the mean turnaround time (TAT) for reporting was significantly reduced by 440 min for patients without immediate appointments and by 86 min for those with same-day appointments. Lastly, patient waiting time sampled in one of the outpatient clinics was not negatively affected. These results demonstrate that AAS can substantially decrease workflow interruptions and improve reporting efficiency. |
| Keywords: | outcome assessment; prospective studies; tomography, x-ray computed; diagnostic imaging; automation; program evaluation; probability; systems integration; cancer care facilities; radiology information systems; tertiary health care; data analysis software; health priorities; turnaround time; descriptive statistics; funding source; retrospective design; reminder systems; appointments and schedules; personnel staffing and scheduling; program implementation; autoanalysis; workflow; record review; waiting lists; two-tailed test; radiologists; hospital information systems; health care delivery, integrated; human; organizational efficiency; health resource allocation; health informatics; email; radiology service -- administration |
| Journal Title: | Journal of Digital Imaging |
| Volume: | 37 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| ISSN: | 0897-1889 |
| Publisher: | Springer |
| Date Published: | 2024-02-01 |
| Start Page: | 25 |
| End Page: | 30 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10278-023-00917-7 |
| PROVIDER: | EBSCOhost |
| PROVIDER: | cinahl plus with full text |
| PMCID: | PMC10976913 |
| PUBMED: | 38343207 |
| DOI/URL: | |
| Notes: | MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748) acknowledged in PubMed and PDF -- Source: CINAHL Plus with Full Text |
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