Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2016
Keywords:
Decision analysis, RIS, Computer applications, Action 1 - Guidelines, implementation policies, and Clinical Decision Support (ESR iGuide), Action 1 - Clinical decision support, clinical imaging guidelines, Education and training
Authors:
L. Donoso, M. G. M. Hunink
DOI:
10.1594/esi2016/ESI-0051
Background/Introduction
At the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) 2015,
the European Society of Radiology (ESR) introduced its clinical decision support (CDS) system,
ESR iGuide,
developed in cooperation with the software firm National Decision Support Company (NDSC) and using imaging referral guidelines based on the appropriateness criteria developed by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and used in ACR Select.
Having advocated CDS as a tool to increase the use of imaging referral guidelines and make imaging utilisation in Europe more appropriate,
the development of ESR iGuide represents an important milestone in the ESR’s efforts to improve quality and safety in radiology.
Since ECR 2015,
things have moved fast with the development of European imaging referral guidelines and the set-up of infrastructure for effective deployment of ESR iGuide across Europe.
In the context of the implementation of the revised Euratom Basic Safety Standards Directive,
the ESR iGuide initiative comes at the right time,
and offers healthcare providers a tool to address challenges in providing radiology services in differing national settings.
The ESR has made the necessary preparations to review user feedback and keep the guidelines up to date.
The ACR’s Rapid Response Committee (RRC),
which is charged with these tasks,
also became a joint committee,
with the ESR’s guideline experts becoming full members of the RRC.
In addition,
the ESR turned the ESR iGuide project team into a formal working group under the umbrella of its Quality,
Safety and Standards Committee.
This will allow the ACR and ESR to work together more effectively,
make the review process even more robust,
and provide a wider range of user experiences from both sides of the Atlantic from which to learn and update the criteria,
improving the quality of the guidelines.
Meanwhile,
NDSC established a European office in 2015 so that it can effectively deploy the ESR’s guidelines within the ESR iGuide system.
With the support of the US team,
who have experience of more than 100 implementations under their belt,
NDSC Europe can use their expertise to ensure the ESR’s guidelines are delivered to European healthcare settings with maximum effect.
Since its establishment in October,
NDSC Europe has recruited pilot sites slated for implementation of ESR iGuide in several European countries in 2016,
and has started working with electronic health record (EHR) providers to allow users to benefit from ESR iGuide’s features to the fullest extent.