Clarity PSO Releases White Paper on Best Practices in Radiology

Clarity PSO, a Division of Clarity Group, Inc., has released a white paper that describes best practices in radiology peer review, introduces philosophies of a “just culture,” and demonstrates how such an approach can lead to improved physician performance and quality care.

According to a 2011 report by the Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA), radiology has one of the highest average numbers of reported and closed claims. On average, radiology cases (closed claims with a loss payment) cost $225,000 per closed claim. Since radiologists and their employers are aware of these liability costs, there can be a tendency for radiologists to practice defensive medicine.

Radiology is an important factor in healthcare delivery since many patients that enter the healthcare system are imaged as part of their initial care. Focusing on quality and error-reduction strategies, such as peer review, can become critical for cost savings, physician quality improvement, and establishing a strong organizational safety culture.

The best way to elevate awareness of issues is to use peer review results to improve organization-wide quality, reduce errors and associated costs, and promote a culture of safety. In a just safety culture, any event related to safety is first considered as a valuable opportunity to improve operations through feedback and the dissemination of lessons learned.  A “just culture” peer review program is proactive, and can ensure all events that have the potential to be instructive are reported and investigated to discover the root cause, and that the principal players involved are given timely feedback. In a just peer review process, the systems are simple, have minimal effects on regular work?ow, and demonstrate immediate, as well as long-term, benefits of participation to providers participating in the peer review process.

Best practices in “just culture” radiology peer review can positively impact physician performance and quality. According to Clarity Group, Inc. radiology group client, Radisphere, which conducts such a radiology peer review process through its quality management program, assessed the perceptions of its staff radiologists to its peer review process. The latest survey found that:

• 89.8% of Radisphere’s radiologists agreed with the statement, “The peer review process helps me.”
• 79.7%  of Radisphere’s radiologists agreed with the statement, “The radiology peer review process is amongst the best I’ve ever seen.”
• 81.4% of Radisphere’s radiologists agreed with the statement, “Check-list driven information systems improve the quality of my reports.”

Click here to download a copy of this Clarity Group White Paper.