title: Automated critical test result notification system: architecture, design, and assessment of provider satisfaction.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Communicating critical results of diagnostic imaging procedures is a national patient safety goal. The purposes of this study were to describe the system architecture and design of Alert Notification of Critical Results (ANCR), an automated system designed to facilitate communication of critical imaging results between care providers; to report providers' satisfaction with ANCR; and to compare radiologists' and ordering providers' attitudes toward ANCR.
  
  
  METHODS
  The design decisions made for each step in the alert communication process, which includes user authentication, alert creation, alert communication, alert acknowledgment and management, alert reminder and escalation, and alert documentation, are described. To assess attitudes toward ANCR, internally developed and validated surveys were administered to all radiologists (n = 320) and ordering providers (n = 4323) who sent or received alerts 3 years after ANCR implementation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The survey response rates were 50.4% for radiologists and 36.1% for ordering providers. Ordering providers were generally dissatisfied with the training received for use of ANCR and with access to technical support. Radiologists were more satisfied with documenting critical result communication (61.1% vs 43.2%; p = 0.0001) and tracking critical results (51.6% vs 35.1%; p = 0.0003) than were ordering providers. Both groups agreed use of ANCR reduces medical errors and improves the quality of patient care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Use of ANCR enables automated communication of critical test results. The survey results confirm overall provider satisfaction with ANCR but highlight the need for improved training strategies for large numbers of geographically dispersed ordering providers. Future enhancements beyond acknowledging receipt of critical results are needed to help ensure timely and appropriate follow-up of critical results to improve quality and patient safety.
authors.affiliation: 1 Center for Evidence-Based Imaging and Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115.
authors.forename: Ronilda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lacson
authors.forename: Stacy D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: Katherine P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Andriole
authors.forename: Luciano M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Prevedello
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khorasani
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006747:Hospital Communication Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011873:Radiology Information Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017010:Reminder Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012308:Risk Management / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012984:Software; D012985:Software Design; D012986:Software Validation; D014481:United States; D014600:Utilization Review
keywords: alert notification; automated system; critical test result; provider communication; satisfaction survey