Process improvement: wet reads

Through a four month Clinical Process Improvement Leadership Program, professionals at North Shore Medical Center in Massachusetts developed a process improvement to gain efficiency in communicating urgently requested x-ray results, or "wet reads." The initial steps included summoning a diverse team, mapping the process in detail, and clearly defining the problem. Once the problem was defined, the team brainstormed potential solutions and constructed a priority/pay-off matrix. By using the Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) system, a repeating cycle of activity that tests the new experimental work flow by tracking, adjusting, tweaking, and tracking again, efforts were built upon until the goal was met.The average wet read turnaround time went from 44 minutes to 15 minutes, a reduction of 66%.