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Quality Assurance of a Cross-Border and Sub-Specialized Teleradiology Service

Background: The current literature discusses aspects of quality assurance (QA) and sub-specialization. However, the challenges of these topics in a teleradiology network have been less explored. In a project report, we aimed to review the development and enforcement of sub-specialized radiology at T...

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Autores principales: Hetenyi, Szabolcs, Goelz, Leonie, Boehmcker, Alexander, Schorlemmer, Carlos
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9223114/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35742052
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10061001
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author Hetenyi, Szabolcs
Goelz, Leonie
Boehmcker, Alexander
Schorlemmer, Carlos
author_facet Hetenyi, Szabolcs
Goelz, Leonie
Boehmcker, Alexander
Schorlemmer, Carlos
author_sort Hetenyi, Szabolcs
collection PubMed
description Background: The current literature discusses aspects of quality assurance (QA) and sub-specialization. However, the challenges of these topics in a teleradiology network have been less explored. In a project report, we aimed to review the development and enforcement of sub-specialized radiology at Telemedicine Clinic (TMC), one of the largest teleradiology providers in Europe, and to describe each step of its QA. Evaluation: The company-specific background was provided by the co-authors—current and former staff members of TMC. Detailed descriptions of the structures of sub-specialization and QA at TMC are provided. Exemplary quantitative evaluation of caseloads and disagreement rates of secondary reviews are illustrated. Description of Sub-specialization and Quality Assurance at TMC: Sub-specialization at TMC is divided into musculoskeletal radiology, neuroradiology, head and neck, a body, and an emergency section operating at local daytime in Europe and Australia. Quality assurance is based on a strict selection process of radiologists, specific reporting guidelines, feedback through the secondary reading of 100% of all radiology reports for new starters, and a minimum of 5% of radiology reports on a continuous basis for all other radiologists, knowledge sharing activities and ongoing training. The level of sub-specialization of each radiologist is monitored continuously on an individual basis in detail. After prospective secondary readings, the mean disagreement rate at TMC indicating at least possibly clinically relevant findings was 4% in 2021. Conclusion: With continuing and current developments in radiology in mind, the essential features of sub-specialization and innovative QA are relevant for further expansion of teleradiology services and for most radiology departments worldwide to respond to the increasing demand for value-based radiology.
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spelling pubmed-92231142022-06-24 Quality Assurance of a Cross-Border and Sub-Specialized Teleradiology Service Hetenyi, Szabolcs Goelz, Leonie Boehmcker, Alexander Schorlemmer, Carlos Healthcare (Basel) Project Report Background: The current literature discusses aspects of quality assurance (QA) and sub-specialization. However, the challenges of these topics in a teleradiology network have been less explored. In a project report, we aimed to review the development and enforcement of sub-specialized radiology at Telemedicine Clinic (TMC), one of the largest teleradiology providers in Europe, and to describe each step of its QA. Evaluation: The company-specific background was provided by the co-authors—current and former staff members of TMC. Detailed descriptions of the structures of sub-specialization and QA at TMC are provided. Exemplary quantitative evaluation of caseloads and disagreement rates of secondary reviews are illustrated. Description of Sub-specialization and Quality Assurance at TMC: Sub-specialization at TMC is divided into musculoskeletal radiology, neuroradiology, head and neck, a body, and an emergency section operating at local daytime in Europe and Australia. Quality assurance is based on a strict selection process of radiologists, specific reporting guidelines, feedback through the secondary reading of 100% of all radiology reports for new starters, and a minimum of 5% of radiology reports on a continuous basis for all other radiologists, knowledge sharing activities and ongoing training. The level of sub-specialization of each radiologist is monitored continuously on an individual basis in detail. After prospective secondary readings, the mean disagreement rate at TMC indicating at least possibly clinically relevant findings was 4% in 2021. Conclusion: With continuing and current developments in radiology in mind, the essential features of sub-specialization and innovative QA are relevant for further expansion of teleradiology services and for most radiology departments worldwide to respond to the increasing demand for value-based radiology. MDPI 2022-05-28 /pmc/articles/PMC9223114/ /pubmed/35742052 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10061001 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Project Report
Hetenyi, Szabolcs
Goelz, Leonie
Boehmcker, Alexander
Schorlemmer, Carlos
Quality Assurance of a Cross-Border and Sub-Specialized Teleradiology Service
title Quality Assurance of a Cross-Border and Sub-Specialized Teleradiology Service
title_full Quality Assurance of a Cross-Border and Sub-Specialized Teleradiology Service
title_fullStr Quality Assurance of a Cross-Border and Sub-Specialized Teleradiology Service
title_full_unstemmed Quality Assurance of a Cross-Border and Sub-Specialized Teleradiology Service
title_short Quality Assurance of a Cross-Border and Sub-Specialized Teleradiology Service
title_sort quality assurance of a cross-border and sub-specialized teleradiology service
topic Project Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9223114/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35742052
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10061001
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