title: Impact of an in-house emergency radiologist on report turnaround time.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  One of the many challenges facing emergency departments (EDs) across North America is timely access to emergency radiology services. Academic institutions, which are typically also regional referral centres, frequently require cross-sectional studies to be performed 24 hours a day with expedited final reports to accelerate patient care and ED flow.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine if the presence of an in-house radiologist, in addition to a radiology resident dedicated to the ED, had a significant impact on report turnaround time.
  
  
  METHODS
  Preliminary and final report turnaround times, provided by the radiology resident and staff, respectively, for patients undergoing computed tomography or ultrasonography of their abdomen/pelvis in 2008 (before the implementation of emergency radiology in-house staff service) were compared to those performed during the same time frame in 2009 and 2010 (after staffing protocols were changed).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1,624 reports were reviewed. Overall, there was no statistically significant decrease in the preliminary report turnaround times between 2008 and 2009 (p = 0.1102), 2009 and 2010 (p = 0.6232), or 2008 and 2010 (p = 0.0890), although times consistently decreased from a median of 2.40 hours to 2.08 hours to 2.05 hours (2008 to 2009 to 2010). There was a statistically significant decrease in final report turnaround times between 2008 and 2009 (p < 0.0001), 2009 and 2010 (p < 0.0011), and 2008 and 2010 (p < 0.0001). Median final report times decreased from 5.00 hours to 3.08 hours to 2.75 hours in 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively. There was also a significant decrease in the time interval between preliminary and final reports between 2008 and 2009 (p < 0.0001) and 2008 and 2010 (p < 0.0001) but no significant change between 2009 and 2010 (p = 0.4144).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that the presence of a dedicated ED radiologist significantly reduces final report turnaround time and thus may positively impact the time to ED patient disposition. Patient care is improved when attending radiologists are immediately available to read complex films, both in terms of health care outcomes and regarding the need for repeat testing. Providing emergency physicians with accurate imaging findings as rapidly as possible facilitates effective and timely management and thus optimizes patient care.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Medical Imaging,The Ottawa Hospital,University of Ottawa,Ottawa, ON.
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lamb
authors.affiliation: *Department of Medical Imaging,The Ottawa Hospital,University of Ottawa,Ottawa, ON.
authors.forename: Paria
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kashani
authors.affiliation: *Department of Medical Imaging,The Ottawa Hospital,University of Ottawa,Ottawa, ON.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.affiliation: †Department of Emergency Medicine,The Ottawa Hospital,University of Ottawa,Ottawa, ON.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hebert
authors.affiliation: *Department of Medical Imaging,The Ottawa Hospital,University of Ottawa,Ottawa, ON.
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sheikh
authors.affiliation: *Department of Medical Imaging,The Ottawa Hospital,University of Ottawa,Ottawa, ON.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thornhill
authors.affiliation: *Department of Medical Imaging,The Ottawa Hospital,University of Ottawa,Ottawa, ON.
authors.forename: Najla
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fasih
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010820:Physicians / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011872:Radiology Department, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D013038:Specialization; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: report turnaround