A Survey of Interventional Radiologists Regarding the Use of Morbidity and Mortality Conferencing in Departmental...

To investigate the degree to which morbidity and mortality (M&M) conferencing is utilized in interventional radiology (IR), identify impediments to its adoption, and assess the experience of those using this tool.

Members of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) were offered a 9-question survey of practices and experiences regarding M&M conferencing within their quality assessment (QA) programs.

Among 604 respondents, 37.8% were university-based practitioners and 60% were from outside of university practices. Of all respondents, 43% reported practicing 100% IR, with 28.5% practicing IR 75%-99% and 11% practicing IR <50% of the time. The use of M&M conferencing was significantly greater in university practices (90.7%) than in nonuniversity practices (37.1%) and among practitioners performing at least 75% IR (71.2%) than among those practicing <75% (28.8%). The conferences were held monthly (66.6%) or more often, and the majority (56%) of the events identified were scored using the SIR severity score. Approximately 20% of M&M conferences were multidisciplinary, shared most commonly with vascular surgery. The reasons cited for not using M&M included the lack of time and the logistical challenges of the process. However, among those who participate in M&M conferences, the QA goals of the conference were met at very high rates.

M&M conferencing is well established in university IR programs and among full-time practitioners but much less so elsewhere. For those sites that do not utilize M&M conferencing, there may be a considerable benefit to addressing the obstacles that are limiting their implementation of this tool.