Imaging delays among medical inpatients in Toronto, Ontario: A cohort study

Imaging procedures are commonly performed on hospitalized patients and waiting for these could increase length-of-stay. The study objective was to quantify delays for imaging procedures in General Internal Medicine and identify contributing patient, physician, and system factors.

This was a retrospective cohort study of medical inpatients admitted to 5 hospitals in Toronto, Ontario (2010-2019), with at least one imaging procedure (CT, MRI, ultrasound, or peripherally-inserted central catheter [PICC] insertion). The primary outcome was time-to-test, and the secondary outcome was acute length-of-stay after test ordering.

The study cohort included 73,107 hospitalizations. Time-to-test was longest for MRI (median 22 hours) and shortest for CT (median 7 hours). The greatest contributors to time-to-test were system factors such as hospital site (up to 22 additional hours), location of test ordering (up to 10 additional hours), the timing of test ordering relative to admission (up to 13 additional hours), and ordering during weekends (up to 21 additional hours). Older patient age, having more comorbidities, and residence in a low-income neighborhood were also associated with testing delays. Each additional hour spent waiting for a test was associated with increased acute length-of-stay after test ordering, ranging from 0.4 additional hours for CT to 1.2 hours for MRI.

The greatest contributors to testing delays relate to when and where a test was ordered. Wait times affect length-of-stay and the quality of patient care. Hospitals can apply our novel approach to explore opportunities to decrease testing delays locally.