Quality initiatives: Key performance indicators for measuring and improving radiology department performance

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are financial and nonfinancial measures that are used to define and evaluate the success of an organization. KPIs differ, depending on the nature of the organization and the organizational strategy; they are devised to help evaluate the progress of an organization toward achieving its long-term goals and fulfilling its vision. In healthcare organizations, performance assessment is especially critical for the development of best practices that can lead to improved outcomes in patient care, and KPIs have been incorporated into many healthcare management systems. In the future, radiology-specific KPIs such as those in use at the authors' institution may help provide a framework for measuring performance in radiology practice.