Radiologist Opinions of a Quality Assurance Program: The Interaction Between Error, Emotion, and Preventative Action.

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Radiology Quality Assurance
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Effective quality assurance (QA) programs are crucial for patient safety and error reduction in radiology.
• Understanding radiologist perspectives on QA is essential for program improvement.
• Previous research has not fully explored the interplay between QA opinions, emotional responses to errors, and preventative actions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationships between radiologist opinions of a quality assurance (QA) program, QA Committee communications, negative emotions, self-identified risk factors, and preventive actions following major errors.
• To identify factors influencing radiologist perceptions of the QA process.

Main Methods:

• An electronic survey with 48 questions was administered to 431 radiologists in a teleradiology organization.
• Data were collected between June 15 and July 3, 2018, with two reminders sent.
• Descriptive statistics and Fisher exact tests were used for analysis, with a significance level of p < 0.05.

Main Results:

• A 67.5% response rate was achieved. Preventative actions correlated positively with higher QA opinions, self-identified risk factors, and negative emotions post-error (p < 0.05).
• Positive opinions of QA Committee communications were associated with a favorable view of the QA process (p < 0.001).
• Negative emotions showed an inverse relationship with opinions of QA Committee communications and the QA process (p < 0.05). Radiologist gender and employment status impacted QA perception (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Radiologist opinions on institutional QA processes are associated with experienced negative emotions and preventative actions taken after errors.
• Enhancing trust and positive feedback within QA programs may improve radiologist interactions with QA Committees and reduce future errors.