Perceptions and Current Practices of Radiologist Assistants' Peer-Review Process

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Education
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Peer review is crucial for healthcare quality, identifying practice variations and ensuring optimal care delivery.
• While diagnostic and interventional radiologists routinely engage in peer review, processes for radiology-specific advanced practice providers, like radiologist assistants, are not well-documented.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the perceptions and current practices of the peer-review process among radiologist assistants.
• To gather insights into how radiologist assistants engage in and view peer review.

Main Methods:

• An anonymous, online questionnaire with 49 questions was distributed to 133 radiologist assistants.
• Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data collected from the survey respondents.

Main Results:

• The survey achieved a 42.1% response rate, with 62.5% of respondents participating in peer review.
• Direct in-person observation was the most common peer-review method (21.4%). Radiologists and radiologist assistants were both considered peers.
• Respondents preferred face-to-face or phone discussions for feedback (39.3%) and overwhelmingly agreed that peer review is beneficial for professional and educational development (92.5%).

Conclusions:

• Radiologist assistants are receptive to peer review and perceive it as valuable for their professional and educational growth.
• Understanding current peer-review perceptions and practices is essential for developing tailored processes for radiologist assistants.