The Unseen Expenses of Antiquated Radiology Processes

The nexus between technology and patient care, radiology information systems (RIS) have been transformed by the latest advances in healthcare. They provide a platform for the management of patient data, scheduling procedures and tracking patient histories.

Unplanned RIS downtime can impact the entire imaging center and lead to a wide array of costs, including tangible financial losses and revenue cycle challenges and intangible costs like customer dissatisfaction and negative online reviews. This article explores how RIS maintenance strategies can minimize these costs.

Costs of Errors

Despite significant advancements in medical imaging technology and the availability of effective error-prevention tools, diagnostic errors still occur. The impact of these errors can be devastating for patients, and the costs associated with them are a major concern for radiology departments like a mess-up to streamline appointment booking. Errors in diagnosis and treatment have been linked to a wide range of complications, including patient deaths. In addition, radiologist errors are among the leading causes of malpractice claims against physicians.

There are a number of reasons why radiology errors may occur, including cognitive biases, miscommunication, and workflow inefficiencies. Fortunately, addressing the most common radiology error sources can significantly reduce the risk of patient harm and improve the quality of care.

A significant source of errors in radiology is the result of poor communication between referring clinicians and the interpreting radiologist. These communication failures can occur at any stage of the imaging cycle, from ordering an examination to communicating results. In fact, communication failures are the third most common cause of malpractice claims against radiologists.

Moreover, many of these communication errors can be avoided with simple, inexpensive fixes. For example, many popular dictation software programs present the radiologist with a template with different fields to dictate into. This forces the radiologist to constantly refer back to the template while attempting to dictate, distracting their attention from the diagnostic images at hand. This can lead to errors in interpreting the images, such as missing or overlooking critical findings.

Another way that radiology errors can be avoided is by using electronic trigger tools and preimaging checklists to detect and prevent errors such as ordering the wrong anatomic side. This type of error, which is often made by untrained staff, can cause substantial patient harm in a variety of ways and produce erroneous electronic health records (EHR) data.

Finally, many errors are caused by inefficient or unreliable radiology workflows, which may be due to a number of factors, including poor training, inadequate documentation, and excessive workloads. These inefficiencies can also lead to rushed examinations, which may lead to inaccurate diagnoses.

A comprehensive radiology workflow analysis can identify inefficient and outdated processes that require improvement. Implementing these improvements can result in a number of benefits, including reduced patient wait times, more accurate and timely reporting, increased productivity, fewer errors, and improved overall patient outcomes.

Costs of Disruptions

Radiologists’ ability to make accurate diagnoses depends on their access to information, which is why a well-functioning Radiology Information System (RIS) is essential. However, a single point of failure can significantly impact the entire imaging workflow. These disruptions can cost the department in terms of financial losses and revenue cycle management challenges, as well as intangible costs like patient satisfaction scores and reputational damage due to negative online reviews.

Equipment malfunctions can occur due to a number of reasons, including mechanical issues, electrical problems, software bugs, and more. While most of these issues are unavoidable, they can lead to significant delays in the diagnostic process. Moreover, they may also compromise the integrity of patient records stored in Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS)—leading to fines for HIPAA violations.

Radiology services are constantly in demand, which is why it’s important for radiology departments to have the latest tools at their disposal. Nevertheless, even the most advanced scanning machines can experience breakdowns. As a result, it’s critical to invest in efficient radiology workflows that minimize interruptions to ensure optimal patient care and safety.

The RIS, which acts as the backbone of the imaging department, integrates various functionalities that range from scheduling procedures to tracking medical history. Additionally, it can help radiologists prioritize patients based on their unique imaging needs. Integrated with the PACS, the RIS allows for a consolidated view of all images, allowing for quick and seamless access to relevant data.

Moreover, the RIS can enable radiologists to provide reports to referring physicians and other healthcare professionals in a timely manner. As such, it can enhance the quality of image interpretations by reducing the amount of time and effort required to prepare them.

In addition, the RIS can facilitate more efficient dictation processes by enabling radiologists to use speech recognition software. Moreover, it can provide a real-time visualization of modality-specific exam volume, staff utilization, and cancellation rates to improve operational efficiency.

The RIS can also connect with the EHR system to send diagnostic results directly back to the physician who ordered them. It can also integrate with a patient portal, giving people who undergo imaging procedures convenient access to their results and improving patient engagement and overall satisfaction.

Costs of Burnout

Radiology is a 24/7 job, and its workforce is at risk for burnout. Several factors contribute to this, including long workdays with after-hours obligations, competing time demands (clinical, academic, and administrative), insufficient personnel, and the high level of accuracy demanded by the profession.

As a result, many radiologists are not as productive or accurate as they could be, which impacts patient outcomes. Additionally, the stress of burnout can cause a decrease in morale and lead to higher turnover rates in radiology staff. This, in turn, leads to a lack of continuity in patient care and delays in report turnaround times.

Equipment failures, unforeseen circumstances, and scheduling conflicts can all disrupt radiologists’ workflow. These disruptions impact patient wait times, create anxiety for patients, and strain the workflow of other healthcare professionals who rely on radiology reports to diagnose and treat patients.

A radiology information system (RIS) that can streamline radiology processes, reduce unnecessary data entry and billing errors, and improve revenue cycle management is a critical piece of any imaging center’s technology infrastructure. An effective RIS will also help to mitigate downtime incidents, which can cost an imaging facility $17,244 per minute of unplanned downtime.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated burnout risks, as radiologists struggle to balance their work load with personal responsibilities. This has led to some radiologists limiting or changing their work hours, sacrificing productivity and professional satisfaction. In the long term, these choices may lead to reduced efficiency, lower quality of patient care, and potentially increased liability exposure.

While the underlying causes of burnout are complex and multifaceted, a streamlined process that allows for optimal patient care delivery while supporting morale and professional fulfillment can make a significant difference. Investing in wellness strategies that go beyond the traditional focus on work relative value units can be a game-changer.

For example, an effective RIS can analyze dynamic workloads and exam volumes to ensure fair and equitable allocation of work based on physician availability and performance. It can also prevent ‘cherry-picking’ of cases, which can dissatisfy radiologists and disrupt the balance of a practice’s overall workflow.

Costs of Regulatory Compliance

The ability to accurately interpret medical imaging results and provide timely reports is essential for the delivery of safe patient care. However, unforeseen circumstances such as physician illness, family emergencies or scheduling conflicts can interfere with a radiology department’s ability to generate reports, leading to delayed diagnoses and treatment for patients. These delays also strain the workflow of healthcare professionals who rely on radiology reports to develop and execute patient care plans.

When it comes to radiology, implementing a seamless workflow requires a combination of digitization, virtualization and integration – supported by real-time data analytics. With the help of a radiology information system (RIS), many imaging centers have been able to streamline appointment scheduling, patient management and reporting. As a result, they can reduce administrative costs and improve patient outcomes.

Unplanned RIS downtimes present significant risks to patient safety, threatening the integrity of a facility’s Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) which stores critical patient records. Additionally, the loss of a RIS can lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive patient data and fines from HIPAA breaches.

To minimize the risk of RIS downtime, radiology departments can implement a scalable RIS solution that allows users to access only the features and data they need. For example, a RIS with role-based security will restrict users from accessing features and data that aren’t relevant to their job function. This will ensure that the system is always available to meet clinical and business requirements.

Efficiently managing incidental findings (AIFs) is another key element of a cost-effective radiology workflow. At our organization, we streamlined radiologist reporting of AIFs by creating a standardized report template integrated with dictation software and by assigning each AIF to a nurse navigator for follow-up. This enables nurses to document the AIF in PACS, track follow-up actions and close the loop with the referring physician and patient.

These seven innovations demonstrate how a scalable, integrated RIS can help imaging centers maximize efficiency and drive revenue while minimizing administrative costs. They also show how digitization, virtualization and integration — supported by real-time data analytics — can be used to create one seamless radiology workflow that’s centered around the patient for better efficiency and quality of care.