Quantifying radiation safety and quality in medical imaging, part 4: the medical imaging agent scorecard.

The Institute of Medicine has determined that adverse drug events (ADEs) are the number one cause of medical errors in the United States and that additional efforts are required to improve patient safety. Medical imaging plays an important role in ADEs, most commonly related to the administration of imaging contrast agents. For medical imaging providers to assume a proactive role in patient safety, the creation of objective, data-driven quality metrics is advocated, which analyze all steps in the drug delivery chain, including procurement, prescription, dispersal, administration, monitoring, and management. These metrics would lead to the creation of a quality scorecard, developed to create objective accountability measures for all actors involved in this chain of events, including pharmacists, radiologists, clinicians, physicists, technologists, administrators, nurses, vendors, and patients. The ultimate goal of such an endeavor is to improve patient safety through the reduction of ADEs and the creation and refinement of data-driven best-practice guidelines.