Strategic Radiology practices place a high priority on continuous quality improvement through a culture of collaboration that supports quality improvement and patient safety in medical imaging.
Strategic Radiology operates the first Patient Safety Organization listed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) that is dedicated solely to the improvement of medical imaging through the sharing of data, best practices, and target benchmarks that exceed industry standards:
Turnaround time from completion to final report:
MQSA mammography call-back rates: 8% to 12%
Critical findings documentation in report: 98%
Critical findings time-to-delivery: 10 min. in > 95% of cases
Overall patient satisfaction scores: 95% to 99%
Strategic Radiology member groups completed the endowment of an $800,000 RSNA R&E Seed Grant in 2020, setting in motion a series of 20 annual grants awarded by the RSNA's Research & Education Foundation over 20 years to support radiology research and advance the specialty.
Twice a year, radiologists, practice executives, and employees dedicated to quality-improvement gather at the SR Quality Forums. The conferences showcase radiology-specific quality improvement projects and provide a safe environment for learning and growth.
Under the direction of Strategic Radiology’s quality leads, the curriculum has put some of our members’ quality personnel on the path to acquiring the coveted CPHQ certification from the International Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality.
Peer review is the foundation of many hospital-based radiology quality programs. Five Strategic Radiology practices are working to improve the process by:
Strategic Radiology member groups collaborate to develop clinical best practices to assure patients are receiving state-of-the-art care. Seven member groups are participating in a research initiative to explore various methods of communicating incidental findings found on ED imaging studies directly to patients. The project is funded by a grant from the Coverys Community Healthcare Foundation to improve diagnostic accuracy.
Optimal staffing is a challenge for practices of all sizes—even large teleradiology companies struggle to provide subspecialized interpretations where they are needed. Our collaborative environment helps member groups of all sizes to extend the hours and depth of subspecialized coverage for their patients, referring physicians, and hospital partners.
To support member subspecialization, we provide a preferred vendor that adheres to a high level of quality control; and we are building a shared IT infrastructure to promote cross coverage among members.
Before joining Strategic Radiology, we were engaged in quality improvement, but we didn’t have an overarching quality program. Once we joined, we saw what other groups were doing, and we were inspired to have a dedicated program within our group.
