An Important and Often Ignored Turnaround Time in Radiology – Clinician Turnaround Time: Implications for Musculoskeletal Radiology

BACKGROUND: There has been an increase in routine musculoskeletal (MSK) MRI studies performed on weekends. STUDY AIMS: First, to assess whether radiologist interpretation of routine MSK MRI studies on weekends decreases the time to when the clinician reads the radiologist’s report compared to studies performed on the weekend but interpreted the following Monday. Second, to evaluate whether reports are more likely to be read by clinicians if the MRIs are interpreted by radiologists on weekends compared to the following Monday. METHODS: A random sample of 1765 patients who underwent routine MSK MRIs from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2016 was evaluated. The radiologist turnaround times (rTATs), clinician turnaround times (cTATs) and the provider turnaround time (pTAT) were calculated. The pTAT was the sum of the rTAT and the cTAT. Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare proportions. Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests were used to compare turnaround time metrics. RESULTS: There was no difference in the pTAT for studies performed and interpreted on the weekends compared to those performed on the weekend but interpreted the following Monday (P = 0.750). However, clinicians were significantly less likely to read the reports interpreted on the weekend compared to studies interpreted on weekdays (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Routine MSK MRI studies performed on weekends can be interpreted by radiologists on the following weekday (Monday) without affecting the time at which the clinician reads the reports and these reports are more likely to be read by clinicians if the radiologist interprets the study on a weekday.