title: Evidence Base for Quality Control Activities in Cardiovascular Imaging.
abstract: Quality control is pervasive in most modern business, but, surprisingly, is in its infancy in medicine in general-and cardiovascular imaging in particular. The increasing awareness of the cost of cardiovascular imaging, matched by a desire to show benefits from imaging to patient outcome, suggests that this deficiency should be reassessed. Demonstration of improved quality has been proposed to require a focus on several domains: laboratory organization, patient selection, image acquisition, image interpretation, and results communication. Improvement in these steps will require adoption of a variety of interventions, including laboratory accreditation, appropriate use criteria, and continuous quality control and enhancements in reporting, but the evidence base for the benefit of interventions on these steps has been sparse. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the current status and future goals of developing the evidence base for these processes in cardiovascular imaging.
authors.affiliation: Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia; King's College Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eskandari
authors.affiliation: University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia.
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Harvey S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Hecht
authors.affiliation: Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Wael A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Jaber
authors.affiliation: Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia. Electronic address: tom.marwick@utas.edu.au.
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Marwick
mesh_terms: D002309:Cardiology / Q000592:standards*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000592:standards*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000592:standards*; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000592:standards; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011786:Quality Control; D058996:Quality Improvement; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000592:standards*
keywords: cardiovascular imaging; quality control