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Improving On-Time Starts for Pediatric Cardiac MRI
Susan M Ferry1, Mohammad Jalloul2, Ethan P Larsen3
1Division of Cardiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Insights
Improving cardiac MRI start times significantly reduced patient fasting and wait times. Interventions increased on-time starts from 10% to 34%, enhancing workflow and patient care.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Radiology Workflow Optimization
- Quality Improvement in Healthcare
Background:
- Delayed cardiac MRI start times lead to prolonged patient fasting, extended waiting periods, and poor synchronization of anesthesia induction and contrast administration.
- Current on-time start rates for cardiac MRI examinations are as low as 10%.
Purpose of the Study:
- To improve the on-time start rate for cardiac MRI examinations.
- To address the root causes of delays in cardiac MRI scheduling and execution.
Main Methods:
- A multidisciplinary team utilized the Realizing Improvement Through Team Empowerment methodology.
- Identified key factors contributing to delays: late patient arrival, variable patient preparation, equipment unavailability, and inefficient scheduling.
- Implemented interventions including standardized appointment scripts, optimized patient preparation, and ensured equipment availability.
Main Results:
- On-time start rates for cardiac MRI examinations increased from a baseline of 10% to 34%.
- Standardized scripts, timely preparation, and equipment availability were key intervention components.
Conclusions:
- A systematic, multidisciplinary approach effectively identified and resolved issues causing cardiac MRI delays.
- Continuous application of plan-do-study-act cycles facilitated targeted interventions and improved workflow efficiency.
Purpose:
Delayed start times for cardiac MRI examinations have resulted in longer patient fasts, extended wait times, and poor synchronization of anesthesia induction and contrast administration. The aim of this work was to improve on-time start rates from an initial baseline of 10%.
Methods:
A multidisciplinary team comprising members of the cardiac and radiology services used the Realizing Improvement Through Team Empowerment methodology to target the root causes of the delays and enhance workflow. The main factors identified as contributing to examination delays were late patient arrival, variations in patient preparation time, unavailability of equipment, and inefficient scheduling processes.
Results:
The implementation of various interventions, such as the use of standardized appointment scripts, ensuring timely patient preparation, and ensuring the availability of equipment when required, resulted in an increase in on-time start rates for cardiac MRI examinations to 34%.
Conclusions:
The study's systematic approach proved to be valuable in both understanding and resolving the identified problems. Through the continuous application of plan-do-study-act cycles, the authors effectively pinpointed obstacles and tested multiple potential measures to overcome them. This approach made it possible to comprehend the issue and to implement targeted interventions to address it.
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