For orthopedic clinics, having the right medical images (such as x-rays) can be crucial for making the most accurate diagnosis of a patient’s injuries and providing them with the right treatment. However, it’s not uncommon for issues to occur when ordering medical images—causing delays, lost images, and other complications.
This can end up costing orthopedic surgeons valuable time that they could be spending on more valuable tasks and create bottlenecks in the patient care workflow. Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) have helped clinics modernize their image ordering workflows, but errors are still common.
What are the most common mistakes and other issues that arise when ordering medical images? What can be done to minimize errors and streamline your imaging workflows?
Managing medical images can be a complicated process. Here’s an extremely streamlined, barebones example of how an orthopedist might order an x-ray of a suspected broken bone:
An orthopedic surgeon (or another qualified specialist) puts in an order for x-ray images. That order is then relayed to a nurse or assistant to process the order. The images are then captured using an x-ray machine. The captured image is then stored and associated with the appropriate patient file. Then, the orthopedic surgeon retrieves and analyzes the images captured to determine the correct process for treating the patient and writes notes in the patient file to support their findings.
Issues in a medical image ordering and management workflow can be broken down into several broad categories: User error, technical issues, and administrative issues.
Even the best radiology techs, nurses, and doctors can make mistakes when entering data manually for an image order. A small typo, like transposing a letter or a number when entering a file name or patient ID #, can cause a misfiling of images.
For example, say an order is written for patient ID # ending in 1735, but the patient ID was supposed to be a number ending in 1753. The images, once taken, are put into the wrong patient file and, when the surgeon goes to look at them, he can’t find them. The patient is left to wait as the clinic’s staff try to find out where the images were filed—or the images have to be ordered all over again.
User error is often easy to correct if it’s caught near the point of error. However, even when fixed quickly, the delays from manual inputs can add up and reduce efficiency for the orthopedic clinic as a whole.
Technology is incredibly complicated. There are numerous technical issues that can impact an image ordering workflow and put things behind schedule, such as:
One challenge of any clinical workflow is establishing a consistent process for it and ensuring that everyone who needs to fully understands what’s expected of them. Administrative issues such as a lack of documented processes or training can make it difficult to get the most out of your PACS solution.
For example, if clinic staff aren’t given training in how to use a PACS solution, they may not know the best steps to take to most efficiently process new image orders. Each tech/nurse might apply their own process to the system—making the process and results less consistent.
So, what can you do to streamline medical image ordering to make it faster, more consistent, and less costly in terms of labor for your clinic? Here are a few tips to get you started:
Need help streamlining your image ordering workflow? Get a head start by getting a comprehensive orthopedic platform that combines PACS, PM, EHR, telemedicine, and more in a single solution optimized for your needs.
Reach out to Phoenix Ortho today to get started!