Keywords:
Management, Radiographers, CT, Health policy and practice, Cost-effectiveness, Workforce
Authors:
B. Spil, R. Straathof, F. van der Krieke, T. van Ooij, R. G. H. Beets-Tan; Amsterdam/NL
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2018/C-2441
Results
The comprehensive survey showed that 57% of the CT technicians experienced a high workload.
The causes were:
(1) Although the time scheduling of the CT exams was consistent with the actual time duration of the exams,
there was not enough time scheduled for:
-
The start-up preparations of the CT program (e.g.
creatinine controls,
CT room is ready for use,
start-up of contrast injector).
-
The average measured start-up time was 12 minutes more than was scheduled in the CT program.
-
Emergency CT’s; 50% of the,
allocated time slots for emergency CT’s were used for
regular,
non-emergency patients.
(2) 45% of the interruptions were caused by unforeseen patient-related problems (e.g.
patients are late for their appointment,
multiple punctures for an infuse).
(3) 10% of the interruptions were caused by telephone calls.
Based on these results a new work process was implemented in which no regular patients could be planned on the allocated time slots for emergency CT’s.
In addition,
the CT preparation was standardized & shifted to the end of the day.
In order to reduce the number of interruptions the telephone of the CT was assigned to a specific technician who coordinates the whole CT program during the day.
In the second survey,
after implementation,
the percentage of CT technicians with a high workload experience dropped with 16%.