Optimising after-hours workflow of computed tomography orders in the emergency department

Ordering and protocolling CT scans after-hours from the emergency department (ED) at our institution previously required discussion between the ED physician and radiology resident, which led to workflow inefficiency. Our intervention consisted of creating an electronic list of CT requests that radiology residents would monitor. Radiology protocolled straightforward requests and contacted the ordering physician for more details when required. We aimed to improve workflow efficiency, increase provider satisfaction and reduce CT turnaround time without significantly affecting CT utilisation. Plan-do-study-act cycles were used to plan and evaluate the intervention. The intervention was initiated on weekday evenings and then expanded to weekend hours after an interim analysis. Qualitative outcomes were measured via electronic survey, and quantitative outcomes were collected from administrative data and analysed via control charts and other statistical methods. Survey response was high from ED physicians (76%, n=82/108) and radiology residents (79%, n=30/38). After the intervention, the majority of ED staff and radiology residents perceived improved workflow efficiency (96.3%, 73.3%), radiology residents noted a subjective decrease in disruptions (83.3%) and most ED staff felt that scans were performed more quickly (84.1%). Radiology residents received fewer pages per shift, adjusted for scan volume. There was a reduction in time from order entry to protocol on weekday shifts only, with no statistically significant effect on time from order entry to scan. Segmented regression analysis demonstrated a background increase in utilisation over time (0.7–2.0 CT/100 ED visits/year, p<0.0005), but the intervention itself did not contribute to an overall increase in CT utilisation. In conclusion, our intervention led to improved perceived workflow efficiency and reduced pages. Scans were protocoled more quickly on weekdays, but turnaround times were otherwise not significantly affected by the intervention. Background CT utilisation increased over time, but this increase was not attributable to our intervention.