KNOWLEDGE CENTER
June 21st, 2019
What is quality in healthcare?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), quality is “the extent to which healthcare services provided to individuals and patient populations improve desired health outcomes. In order to achieve this, healthcare must be safe, effective, timely, efficient, equitable and people-centered.”
How does this translate to radiology? At Riverside Radiology and Interventional Associates, we believe quality starts with ensuring that patient exams are interpreted by the right radiologist at the right time — and for the right reason. We also believe that the most important measures of quality are the outcomes.
How was your experience? Did we deliver a rapid and accurate diagnosis? Was the patient treated with compassion? These are just a few ways we evaluate the quality of our care.
Subspecialized radiology
In order to ensure a timely and accurate read, patient studies should be interpreted by a radiologist uniquely trained in the specific modality requested.
When an orthopedic surgeon requests an MRI of a patient’s knee, the image should be interpreted by a musculoskeletal (MSK) radiologist. The significant depth of expertise of an MSK radiologist will result in a report generated in a style that is most meaningful to the referring physician.
Riverside Radiology and Interventional Associates is nationally recognized for providing first-rate subspecialized radiology services to leading hospitals and physician group practices. Because we are a subspecialty radiology practice, patient exams captured through both our hospitals and physician partners are interpreted by a radiologist with extensive subspecialty training.
Not only does this enable a more definitive diagnosis, it also protects patients from exposure to additional radiation and reduces unnecessary healthcare costs.
Virtual patient archive
Innovative technology provides the necessary infrastructure platform for building a patient-centered imaging network. Our virtual patient archive allows imaging to move seamlessly from one health system to another, reducing overutilization, lowering costs and freeing up radiologists and referring physicians from cumbersome legwork that delays care and hinders efficiency.
Pioneered by Riverside Radiology and Interventional Associates, this model means patient imaging histories can be accessed by their medical teams regardless of the location. We have placed all of this information at the touch of a button. Through our referring physician portal, we help our radiologists engage deeply in the overall patient care continuum.
In addition, our RadAssist platform delivers best-in-class workflow management, deconstructed PACs and zero footprint viewers. Since 2008, RadAssist has provided a unified view of over 2.4 million studies from over 106 different hospitals throughout the Midwest.
Interested in learning more? Let’s talk.
As one of the largest providers of radiology services in the Midwest, we deliver a fully integrated and unified solution that includes workflow, clinical processes and a broad spectrum of physician support services with industry-leading operational performance:
ED turnaround: 15.6 minutes
Benchmark: 30 minutes to 2 hours
CT turnaround: 3 hours or less
Benchmark: 4-8 hours
Stroke turnaround: 5 minutes
Benchmark: 45 minutes or less
Image peer review: 2-3%
Benchmark: 1-2%
We have earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval, as well as compliance with its national standards for healthcare quality and safety in ambulatory care organizations.
For more information, contact Tim Borcherding at tborcherding@riversiderad.com or call (614) 361-3900.