QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN RADIOLOGY - VALUE OF A PORTABLE BAR-CODE SCANNER INTEGRATED WITH A COMPUTER WORKSTATION

Radiographs are typically processed by several employees of a radiolog y department before being interpreted by a radiologist. A technologist acquires and labels the radiograph(s), and file room employees match the radiograph(s) with prior examinations and prepare them for interpr etation by the radiologist. Every radiologist has encountered radiolog ic examinations in which the image quality, presentation, or associate d clinical or technical information is suboptimal. In small department s, the process of immediately tracking the problem to its source and c orrecting it might be straightforward, albeit an annoying interruption to the radiologist's focus on clinical care. However, in larger depar tments, trends of human error or machine malfunction may be overlooked or untraceable because no effective method exists to track the qualit y of images and associated information. A feedback loop from radiologi sts to the department's ancillary personnel can result in a cycle of c ontinuous quality improvement that enhances the quality of radiographi c examinations and also decreases waste. To achieve this, we designed and implemented a computerized process that involves a portable bar-co de scanner, a personal computer workstation, and our existing radiolog y information system.