Kevin Hamilton BS, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Mark Daly BS, Abstract Co-Author: Stockholder, Analytical Informatics, Inc

Wayne C. LaBelle, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Christopher D. Meenan, Presenter: Stockholder, Analytical Informatics, Inc

Dan Lemkin MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

In a busy emergency medicine department, timely delivery of radiology and other diagnostic results is critical to departmental efficiency and appropriate patient care. In some cases however, patients may be discharged before all diagnostic results are received due to coverage, volumes or other ancillary issues. When discrepant or unexpected results are received post discharge, departmental quality assurance processes ensure appropriate delivery of care and follow-up with the patient. These QA processes however are typically labor intensive and paper based, requiring significant resources for efficient delivery.

We created a web-based application to automate our Department’s QA processes and provide real-time data sharing between departments at our medical center. We created a web service to share radiology report information from our Radiology Department’s quality platform that was consumed by the clinical quality assurance application created by the Emergency Medicine Department.

Our application leverages the radiology web service to receive updated reports and exam details from emergency patients after discharge. We collect all aspects of the patient's visit in order to do effective quality assurance, ensure appropriate measures have been taken and deposit that information in our registry. If any follow-up is necessary, our application provides the user with numerous options to get in touch with the patient. If the resident is unable to contact the patient/emergency contact by phone, he/she may choose to send a letter for follow-up to the patient.

Our approach highlights how patient care can be improved through improved inter-departmental data sharing and collaboration by leveraging web-based applications and modern web standards. Our approach optimized QA processes for discharged patients by aggregating disparate information and providing a unified view. By organizing all of the information regarding the patient's demographics, medications, exams, and discharge instructions into one centralized location that is easy to read, we were able to improve our QA processes, reduce waste and ultimately deliver better care to our patients.

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Hamilton, K, Daly, M, LaBelle, W, Meenan, C, Lemkin, D, Emergency Medicine and Diagnostic Radiology Data Sharing for Improved Quality Assurance.  Radiological Society of North America 2014 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, - ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2014/14013343.html