Enhancing turn-around-time (TAT) on stroke protocol head CT reports via continuous quality improvement (CQI) methodology in a busy teleradiology practice

Abstract

Through strict adherence to continuous quality improvement (CQI) methodology, over a 3 year period our teleradiology practice was able to achieve ongoing 100% compliance with our turn-around-time (TAT) goal for interpretation of stroke protocol head CTs. During the 3 years prior to implementing CQI, our efforts to reduce TAT through traditional less systematic methods had been ineffective, while through the iterative CQI method of defining metrics, measuring, planning, implementation, and re-evaluation, we progressively achieved our goal of interpreting all stroke head CTs in less than 15 minutes.

Keywords

• Teleradiology, telemedicine, stroke, workflow, CQI