Improving Procedure Start Times and Decreasing Delays in Interventional Radiology: A Department's Quality Improvement Initiative.
Acad Radiol
; 22(12): 1579-86, 2015 Dec.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26423205
RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To identify and reduce reasons for delays in procedure start times, particularly the first cases of the day, within the interventional radiology (IR) divisions of the Department of Radiology using principles of continuous quality improvement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An interdisciplinary team representative of the IR and preprocedure/postprocedure care area (PPCA) health care personnel, managers, and data analysts was formed. A standardized form was used to document both inpatient and outpatient progress through the PPCA and IR workflow in six rooms and to document reasons for delays. Data generated were used to identify key problems areas, implement improvement interventions, and monitor their effects. Project duration was 6 months. RESULTS: The average number of on-time starts for the first case of the day increased from 23% to 56% (P value < .01). The average number of on-time, scheduled outpatients increased from 30% to 45% (P value < .01). Patient wait time to arrive at treatment room once they were ready for their procedure was reduced on average by 10 minutes (P value < .01). Patient care delay duration per 100 patients was reduced from 30.3 to 21.6 hours (29% reduction). Number of patient care delays per 100 patients was reduced from 46.6 to 40.1 (17% reduction). Top reasons for delay included waiting for consent (26% of delays duration) and laboratory tests (12%). CONCLUSIONS: Many complex factors contribute to procedure start time delays within an IR practice. A data-driven and patient-centered, interdisciplinary team approach was effective in reducing delays in IR.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Radiology Department, Hospital
/
Radiology, Interventional
/
Quality Improvement
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Acad Radiol
Journal subject:
RADIOLOGIA
Year:
2015
Document type:
Article
Country of publication:
United States