Improving Ordering Practices and Radiology Workflow in the Emergency Department through Multidisciplinary Didactic Series: Survey Based Evaluation

The purpose of our Quality Improvement (QI) project was to evaluate the effectiveness of radiology-led didactics on efficiency and ordering practices in the emergency department. Residents of the emergency medicine (EM) program at Downstate Medical Center/Kings County Hospital (postgraduate years 1 - 4) participated in a didactic lecture series during the first two months of the 2013 academic year. Two fifteen-minute lectures with a question and answer session were designed to focus on radiation risk, American College of Radiology (ACR) appropriateness criteria and the department of radiology’s policies. A short survey questionnaire that included questions on ACR appropriateness criteria, radiology experiences and opinions/attitudes regarding radiology was distributed and analyzed before and after the didactic series. The average score for the knowledge-based technical questions on ACR appropriateness criteria was 60.5% initially and 76.4% post-lecture with an overall improvement of 25%, which was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). Following a short didactic lecture series, EM residents showed significant improvement of their knowledge of appropriate image utilization on the post-lecture survey. This highlights the need for dedicated radiology-led lecture series for EM residents. This type of program could be implemented yearly and expanded to other departments to promote interdepartmental commuication, increases radiology awareness, improves ordering practices and encourages appropriate imaging utilization.