Optimizing radiology in the new picture archiving and communication system environment

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Informatics
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) have transformed radiology image accessibility.
• While PACS improved service, radiologists' input was not integrated into patient care management.
• Timely report availability necessitates radiology workflow reorganization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of business process reengineering on preliminary report turnaround times in a hospital-wide PACS environment.
• To evaluate the effect of reorganization on integrating radiologists back into patient care management.
• To analyze changes in preliminary report generation times for computed radiography examinations.

Main Methods:

• A comparative analysis of two time periods within the same month, before and after reorganization, was conducted.
• Preliminary reports for nonprocedural computed radiography examinations were targeted for generation within 30 minutes.
• Statistical analysis (alpha = .05, power = 90%) was performed on 117 of 686 reports.

Main Results:

• Average time from examination acquisition to preliminary report availability on PACS decreased from 5 hours to 31 minutes.
• The standard deviation in report generation times decreased significantly from 8 hours to 30 minutes.
• The reorganization demonstrated a substantial improvement in information flow.

Conclusions:

• Business process reengineering can effectively improve information flow in teaching hospital radiology departments.
• Reorganization facilitated the reintegration of radiologists into the patient care management team.
• The study highlights successes, challenges, and future requirements for optimizing PACS-integrated radiology workflows.