American College of Radiology Third Annual Conference Covers Quality and Patient Safety

The American College of Radiology (ACR) held its third annual conference on quality and safety in radiology — Maximizing Value in Radiology Through Quality and Safety Improvements — Oct 22 and 23 in Phoenix, Arizona. The conference was organized by the ACR and drew heavily from expertise at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn., and Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. Daniel Johnson, MD, FACR, chair of radiology at Mayo Clinic Arizona, was program chair.

The program covered central principles of patient safety and quality improvement in the context of radiology and reported in depth on radiology-specific problems and solutions.

Though the format was not the most important factor in the conference’s impact, it certainly added value to the program. Presentations were either 10 or 20 minutes long, and it’s easy to imagine that having limited time encouraged speakers to be succinct and focused. To quote Toby Gilk, an MRI safety expert who attended and spoke at the conference: “All wheat; no chaf.”

The two-day program was organized into an overview plus four sessions focused on safety, utilization, process improvement, and physician outcomes. In addition, 16 proffered papers were presented in 10-minute overviews. These summaries provided enticing “tip of the iceberg” glimpses into meaningful, applicable research. Click here to see the program.

Another aspect of the program was Q&A discussions, which I enjoyed for their content as well as format. At the conclusion of each topical session, the speakers—usually three or four—took questions as a panel, which worked well for framing questions around broad issues and fostering conversation among the speakers. Questions from the audience provided another sub-plot. Many questions were along the lines of, “Thank you for your presentation. I’m in private practice (or in one case, managing a collection of small practices, ‘Onesies and twosies’) and trying to figure out how I can apply these principles to my practice with very limited resources.” I see private practices joining the patient safety conversation in increasing numbers. I hope that all organizations that sponsor conferences about safety and quality, including ACR, will begin to include strategies for smaller practices with limited budgets.

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