Patient Safety/Risk Management Tips
Radiology
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Expedite critical or nonroutine results.
For emergent or other nonroutine clinical situations, have a process in place that expedites delivery of diagnostic imaging reports to ensure timely receipt by the respective department or physician (such as surgery or the emergency department physician). Include discrepant findings from preceding interpretations.
Self-referred patients are your patients.
If you practice in a center that schedules self-referrals for such tests as CT, body scan, or MRI, make sure you have established policies and procedures that require appropriate follow-up communication with the patient, the patient’s primary care physician, and with a consultant, when one is required.
Patients who are self-referred have established a physician-patient relationship with you. As the radiologist, you are responsible for communicating the results of imaging studies directly to the patient as well as to his or her physician and for arranging appropriate follow-up care with the patient’s physician or health plan.
Consider the following when sedating pediatric patients for MR imaging:
- A preoperative medical history and examination of each patient
- Age-specific fasting guidelines
- Uniform training and credentialing of providers
- Age and size-specific equipment and supplies
- A procedure for patient observation and monitoring
- Age and size-specific emergency equipment and supplies
- Uniform record keeping with continuous assessment and recording of vital signs
- A protocol for recovery and discharge
Effective communication is a critical component of diagnostic imaging.
The timely communication of results affects the quality of patient care. Whenever possible, review previous reports and images and do a comparison with the current study. To be effective, communication must be timely, must encourage physician-to-physician interaction, and should minimize the risk of errors.
Include at least the following components in your standardized computer-generated final report:
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J6807 5/07
By Cynthia K. Morrison, BSN, ARM, CPHRM, Patient Safety/Risk Management Account Executive, Eastern Regional Office.
The guidelines suggested here are not rules, do not constitute legal advice, and do not ensure a successful outcome. The ultimate decision regarding the appropriateness of any treatment must be made by each health care provider in light of all circumstances prevailing in the individual situation and in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which the care is rendered.