Automated protocoling algorithm reduces radiologist CT workload

An automated protocoling algorithm used with a hospital's electronic health record (EHR) software reduces radiologist CT exam workload, a research team from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston has reported. The findings could make busy radiology departments more efficient, wrote a team led by Ryan Chung, MD. The group's work was published January 17 in the American Journal of Roentgenology. "The system represents a solution for reducing radiologists' time spent performing noninterpretive tasks while improving care efficiency," it noted. Imaging exam protocoling is a task that increases radiologists' workload and can cause workflow inefficiency, Chung and colleagues explained. They investigated the effect of using an automated CT protocoling algorithm with the hospital's electronic medical record on exam process times and protocol error rates via a study that included 317,597 CT exams taken between June 2020 and June 2022; the algorithm assessed all CT orders and either assigned a protocol or directed the order for manual radiologist protocoling. Study timeframes included a pilot stage (July to December 2020), an implementation stage (January to December 2021), and a post-implementation stage (January to December 2022). The researchers evaluated protocol error rates by numbers of quality improvement reports and exams recalls. The group found that the frequency of automatic protocoling varied depending on the study timeframe, at 27.4% during the pilot phase, 42.2% duri...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Practice Management Artificial Intelligence Source Type: news