Evaluating the impact of workstation usage on radiology report times in the initial 6 months following installation

Picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) workstations are report ed to improve workflow by making studies immediately available for review u pon their completion. This study tested the hypothesis that a workstation w ould decrease the time from completion of a study to dictation of results ( report time). A four-monitor, 2K x 2K workstation (Imation Cemax-Icon, Frem ont, CA), was installed in a body imaging computed tomography (CT) reading room. Use of the workstation by the staff radiologists was voluntary. Image s were also printed on film and films continued to be hung at the routine h anging times. To evaluate the workstation's maximum impact, data were colle cted for report times for studies completed during the routine day shift of the staff radiologist (Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM). Data were collecte d before workstation installation (August 1997 to November 1997) and for th e subsequent 6 months. Histograms of the number of studies (743 v 103) vers us report time (mean, 11.7 v 7.4 hours) showed a bimodal distribution, with peaks at approximately 6 and 24 hours, both before (8/97-11/97) and after (6/98) the workstation's installation. However, the number of studies dicta ted greater than 60 hours (25.2% v 20.4%) and the percentage of studies in the second peak (16 to 48 hours; 4.4% v 0%) both decreased. In conclusion, the workstation decreased the mean (11.7 v 7.4 hours) and standard deviatio n (19.8 v 9.1 hours) for report times, This was due to a decrease in both t he number of cases dictated the day following their completion and the numb er of outliers (markedly delayed dictations). The decrease in outliers is p robably due to a decrease in the number of "lost" film-based studies. Copyr ight (C) 1999 by W.B. Saunders Company.