title: Toward Quantifying the Prevalence, Severity, and Cost Associated With Patient Motion During Clinical MR Examinations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prevalence, severity, and cost estimates associated with motion artifacts identified on clinical MR examinations, with a focus on the neuroaxis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review of 1 randomly selected full calendar week of MR examinations (April 2014) was conducted for the detection of significant motion artifacts in examinations performed at a single institution on 3 different MR scanners. A base-case cost estimate was computed from recently available institutional data, and correlated with sequence time and severity of motion artifacts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 192 completed clinical examinations were reviewed. Significant motion artifacts were identified on sequences in 7.5% of outpatient and 29.4% of inpatient and/or emergency department MR examinations. The prevalence of repeat sequences was 19.8% of total MRI examinations. The base-case cost estimate yielded a potential cost to the hospital of $592 per hour in lost revenue due to motion artifacts. Potential institutional average costs borne (revenue forgone) of approximately $115,000 per scanner per year may affect hospitals, owing to motion artifacts (univariate sensitivity analysis suggested a lower bound of $92,600, and an upper bound of $139,000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Motion artifacts represent a frequent cause of MR image degradation, particularly for inpatient and emergency department patients, resulting in substantial costs to the radiology department. Greater attention and resources should be directed toward providing practical solutions to this dilemma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Electronic address: drjalal@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Jalal B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Andre
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Brian W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Bresnahan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Mahmud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mossa-Basha
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Michael N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Hoff
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: C Patrick
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Yoshimi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Anzai
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Wendy A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016477:Artifacts; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement; D015995:Prevalence; D019233:Retreatment / Q000191:economics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: MRI; cost estimate; economics; motion; motion correction