Radiology transformation through collaboration: Ireland’s National Radiology Quality Improvement Programme

Ireland’s National Radiology Quality Improvement Programme is an initiative led by the Faculty of Radiologists and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, in collaboration with the HSE Quality Improvement Division.

It set out to develop national quality improvement guidelines that could be implemented at every hospital in the country, to support the routine review of performance, drive improvement against intelligent targets, and make it easier for clinicians to spot errors and respond to alerts.

In September 2013, McKesson’s Conserus Workflow Intelligence solution was chosen to underpin the project, as it can bring together diverse applications, replace manual with intelligent workflows, and improve communications between teams.

McKesson configured the software to fulfil the requirements of the project and launched its first pilot at University Hospital Waterford in July 2014. The software has been rapidly rolled out, so that 40 hospitals are now live, with another ten to go.

Katrina Sheridan, marketing manager for McKesson, told Digital Health that: “The programme has clearly demonstrated the value of an automated and integrated quality tool for radiology reporting. While the tool has delivered benefits across the nation of Ireland, immediate benefits can be achieved at trust level, and at a regional level.

We are keen to promote similar initiatives in the UK following the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), release of new standards to ensure that urgent findings are communicated and acted upon in a timely manner, The RCR document includes 10 reporting standards and outlines the responsibilities of radiologists, referring physicians, and organisations in all stages of the radiology reporting process, placing emphasis on the need for fail-safe alert systems in imaging studies with critical, urgent, or significant findings.” Learn more.

See how Conserus Workflow Intelligence provides an automated, integrated system with customisable escalation rules for critical, urgent and unexpected findings here.

Digital Health Intelligence Limited
Digital Health special reports are managed and maintained by
Digital Health Intelligence Limited © 2016
Registered Office: Southbank House, London SE1 7SJ Registered No. 9257440 |
Vat No. 198 353 171