ECR 2018 / C-1325
Improving order-to-scan time for emergency department unenhanced CT examinations
Keywords:
Emergency, Management, CT, Safety
Authors:
K. S. Burk, S. Tajmir, R. R. D. Almeida, M. H. Lev; Boston, MA/US
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2018/C-1325
Aims and objectives
- Reducing emergency department length-of-stay (ED LOS) has become increasingly important as our ED volume continues to rise by approximately 4% each year.
- In an effort to meet this goal,
decreasing the delay between the time a CT is requested to the time the scan is performed,
or “order-to-scan time,” has become a major quality improvement effort in our emergency radiology division.
- To meet this goal,
we assembled a multidisciplinary team including ED radiology staff and trainees,
CT technologists and managers,
ED physician staff and trainees,
ED nurses,
and Radiology information and technology staff.
- Our aim was to reduce the order-to-scan time for non-contrast cervical spine (I- C-spine) CTs and non-contrast stone protocol abdomen/pelvis (I- Stone protocol) CTs performed in our ED by 30 minutes.