EXPEDITING THE TURNAROUND OF RADIOLOGY REPORTS IN A TEACHING HOSPITALSETTING

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to determine whether total qu ality management (TQM) techniques that had proved successful in a pilo t study in one departmental sec tion of a teaching hospital could be g eneralized for use by the entire radiology department. MATERIALS AND M ETHODS. Each departmental section developed interventions to improve i ts report turnaround time. These interventions were tailored to practi ce style and habits of each section. Commonly used interventions inclu ded electronic signature from the radiologist's home, a report-signing buddy system, elimination of a trainee signature requirement, acceler ated transcription, structured reports, faster film delivery to readin g desks, and training about the importance of radiology reports for cl inical decision making. Specialized programs included computerized for m-driven reporting and reports generated directly by computer voice re cognition of radiologists' dictation. Our radiology information system provided data on each step in the reporting process. RESULTS. The TQM approach produced significant improvements in departmental total repo rt turnaround time (-55%, p =.001), transcription time (-80%; p =.003) , and signature time (-68%; p =.0004). Each section achieved significa nt gains. The sonography section initiated a computerized, form-driven reporting system and outperformed the rest of the department. CONCLUS IONS. TQM techniques can be expanded and generalized for department-wi de projects in teaching hospitals.