The operation of a radiology consultation service in an acute care hospital.
The operation of a radiology consultation service in an acute care teaching hospital is described. The radiologist acts as an active advisor in the structuring of diagnostic evaluations in three disease categories; biliary tract disease, nonemergency gastrointestinal tract bleeding, and abdominal mass. There was a 64% reduction in the time needed to establish a diagnosis and a 32% decrease in the number of studies for each patient on the consultation ward compared with a control group, which consisted of patients with similar clinical presentations. A formal partnership between clinician and radiologist serves two important functions in teaching hospitals. It can simultaneously expedite diagnostic evaluations and teach the best utilization of imaging examinations.
D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001660:Biliary Tract Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003422:Critical Care; D003657:Decision Making; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006748:Hospital Departments; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011859:Radiography; D011871:Radiology; D011872:Radiology Department, Hospital; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D014707:Vermont