OMICS Journal of Radiology
Open Access

Quality development efforts can facilitate continuous development in protection, performance, and outcomes within the radiology department. Many of those efforts are now mandated by regulatory organizations. For instance, radiologists must actively participate during a Practice Quality Improvement project approved by the American Board of Radiology to fulfil on-going Maintenance of Certification requirements. Beyond these requirements, however, practicing safe, effective, value-added radiology may be a common goal for many practices, and radiology departments must continually strive to enhance their performance to remain competitive within the rapidly changing healthcare environment.

All members of a radiology department must become conversant in the essential tools and methodology of quality improvement to attain this goal and must be actively involved in helping achieve it. During this article, we define quality improvement and briefly describe its relevance to radiology practice, discuss the essential ingredients of a top quality improvement program, and enumerate the sequential steps that constitute the standard improvement process.

The goal of quality improvement is to try to the correct thing in a very timely fashion for each patient anytime. The fundamental framework and tools described during this article can empower the radiologist to continuously improve his or her practice environment. Quality improvement isn’t a passive process; rather, it requires a careful, dedicated, and continuously planned effort by variety of skilled RG and committed team members. This process are often sustained by offering rewards and celebrating successes, with all lessons learned disseminated throughout the department or organization.

A well-functioning, cohesive team is crucial for the successful implementation and functioning of a high quality and safety program. Members shouldn’t only be accustomed to the processes and skilled in using the tools necessary for managing the program, but should even be willing to devote time and energy to creating the program a hit. The team must be fully integrated into a hospital-wide system for facilitating interdepartmental exchange of quality assurance data and consideration of issues that involve multiple departments or clinical services. Members of the standard team should bear in mind of the factors for identifying and processes for investigating serious adverse events. We’ve got found it helpful to align the goals and mission of the hospital with those of the team, to enlist the acknowledgment and support of departmental and hospital leaders, and to own a clearly defined chain of accountability.