Adding value in the era of COVID-19: Increasing usage of a patient-centered radiology consultation service

To examine the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on our department's Radiology Consultation Service (RCS) related to breast imaging, and how utilization of the provided services may have differed as compared to prior to the pandemic.

A retrospective cohort study of patients and health care providers who consulted the RCS, as well as those patients who had a screening mammogram and/or ultrasound between January 1, 2019 and September 1, 2020. Consultations were performed by an RRA, RN and one of 17 breast imaging radiologists assigned to consults on daily. Descriptive statistics were performed to describe the study subject population.

Between January 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020, a total of 1623 consultations were performed, in comparison to the control period from the year prior (January 1, 2019 to July 31, 2019), when a total of 1398 consultations were performed, representing a 16% increase in one year. Between March 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020, a total of 679 consultations were performed, in comparison to the control period from the year prior (March 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019), when 583 consultations were performed, representing a 16.5% increase in a four-month period. 350 out of 679 (36.8%) consultations addressed COVID concerns.

While much of radiology experienced an unprecedented decrease in imaging studies during the initial peak of COVID-19 crisis, the RCS at our institution showed a significant increase in services provided, evolving to address pressing concerns related to COVID-19.