Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH.
Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH.
Curr Probl Diagn Radiol. 2022 Nov-Dec;51(6):848-851. doi: 10.1067/j.cpradiol.2022.06.003. Epub 2022 Jun 27.
Interruptions have been shown to adversely impact efficiency, accuracy, and patient safety.
To analyze the frequency and types of interruptions and effect on report interpretation efficiency.
A business process improvement team was consulted to make detailed recordings of the activities of the radiologists. Activities were categorized as interpreting studies, active interruptions initiated by the radiologist, and passive interruptions initiated by an external source.
Thirteen board-certified, pediatric radiologists were observed for 61 hours. Radiologists spent 52% of their time interpreting studies, 29% on active interruptions, and 18% on passive interruptions. Approximately 50% of non-interpretive time involved in-person conversations or consults and 16% involved phone calls of which 67% were incoming. The longest time period without an interruption was 20 minutes. 85% of the time, an interruption came within 3 minutes of beginning an interpretation and lasted 1 minute or less 70% of the time. Interruptions increased the time a radiologist needed to read a study by 1 minute for radiographs, 2 minutes for ultrasounds, 6 minutes for CTs, and 10 minutes for magnetic resonance imaging.
Total interruption time nearly equaled the total time interpreting studies for radiologists, and interruptions decreased efficiency and increased report interpretation times for all modalities studied. This study highlights the type and extent of interruptions in radiology and examines the effect on report interpretation times. With the frequency of interruptions and impact on efficiency, there is a need to dedicate resources to manage the radiologist workflow. Strategic interventions may ultimately improve outcomes, efficiency, and the overall work environment.
研究表明，中断会对效率、准确性和患者安全产生不利影响。
分析中断的频率和类型及其对报告解读效率的影响。
咨询了一个业务流程改进团队，对放射科医生的活动进行详细记录。活动分为解读研究、放射科医生主动发起的中断和外部源发起的被动中断。
观察了 13 名经过董事会认证的儿科放射科医生，共 61 小时。放射科医生将 52%的时间用于解读研究，29%用于主动中断，18%用于被动中断。大约 50%的非解释性时间涉及面对面的交谈或咨询，16%涉及电话，其中 67%是来电。最长的无中断时间为 20 分钟。85%的情况下，中断会在开始解读后的 3 分钟内发生，持续时间为 1 分钟或更短，其中 70%的时间为 1 分钟。中断使放射科医生阅读 X 光片所需的时间增加了 1 分钟，阅读超声检查所需的时间增加了 2 分钟，阅读 CT 检查所需的时间增加了 6 分钟，阅读磁共振成像所需的时间增加了 10 分钟。
放射科医生的总中断时间几乎与解读研究的总时间相等，所有研究模式的中断都降低了效率，并增加了报告解读时间。本研究强调了放射科中断的类型和程度，并考察了其对报告解读时间的影响。鉴于中断的频率和对效率的影响，有必要投入资源来管理放射科医生的工作流程。战略干预措施最终可能会改善结果、效率和整体工作环境。
