Key Performance Indicators in Radiology: You Can't Manage What You Can't Measure.
Quality assurance (QA) is a fundamental component of every successful radiology operation. A radiology QA program must be able to efficiently and effectively monitor and respond to quality problems. However, as radiology QA has expanded into the depths of radiology operations, the task of defining and measuring quality has become more difficult. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are highly valuable data points and measurement tools that can be used to monitor and evaluate the quality of services provided by a radiology operation. As such, KPIs empower a radiology QA program to bridge normative understandings of health care quality with on-the-ground quality management. This review introduces the importance of KPIs in health care QA, a framework for structuring KPIs, a method to identify and tailor KPIs, and strategies to analyze and communicate KPI data that would drive process improvement. Adopting a KPI-driven QA program is both good for patient care and allows a radiology operation to demonstrate measurable value to other health care stakeholders.
Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Institute for Technology Assessment, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Electronic address: hbharvey@partners.org.
H Benjamin
HB
Harvey
Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Elmira
E
Hassanzadeh
Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Shima
S
Aran
Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Daniel I
DI
Rosenthal
Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
James H
JH
Thrall
Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Hani H
HH
Abujudeh
D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006801:Humans; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D011871:Radiology / Q000592:standards*; D011872:Radiology Department, Hospital / Q000592:standards