Interventional radiology peer, a newly developed peer-review scoring system designed for interventional radiology practice.
OBJECTIVE
Existing diagnostic radiology peer-review systems do not address the specificities of interventional radiology (IR) practice. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of a specifically developed interventional peer review method, IR Peer.


METHODS
Retrospective review of a prospectively encoded pilot database aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of IR Peer in a multiphysician practice was performed. This scoring system used morning peer review of selected IR cases from the previous day in the form of a five-item questionnaire and an ordinal answer scale that grades reviewers' agreement with imaging findings, procedural/technical management, early outcomes, and follow-up plan. Patient lists from IR Peer and morbidity and mortality (M&M) conferences were compared to evaluate the amount of overlap and capability of IR Peer to help detect adverse events (AEs).


RESULTS
A total of 417 consecutive reviews of IR attending physician cases by peers were performed in 163 consecutive patients over 18 months, and 94% of cases were reviewed by two or three IR attending physicians. Each question was answered 99%-100% of the time. Answers showed disagreement in 10% of cases (2% by a single reviewer, 8% by several), most related to procedural technique. Overall AE incidence was 1.8%. IR Peer contributed 10.7% of cases to the M&M list.


CONCLUSIONS
IR Peer is feasible, relevant, and easy to implement in a multiphysician IR practice. When used along with other quality-assurance processes, it might help in the detection of AEs for M&M; the latter will require further confirmatory research.
Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 22 S. Greene St. (N2W74), Baltimore, MD 21201.
Bertrand Janne
BJ
d'Othée
Ziv J
ZJ
Haskal
D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015588:Observer Variation; D018024:Peer Review, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D015642:Radiology, Interventional / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
AE; IR; M&M; adverse event; interventional radiology; morbidity and mortality