Incremental Improvements for Radiologists Can Add Up To Big Gains In Performance

A BETTER WAY OF GETTING THERE

Back when I was a resident we used people to transcribe the studies. We spoke into the phone, dictated the headers, views, indications, and then covered all over the different systems where you had to say everything. Thirty minutes later we’d get a report to proofread and then click send. It was very inefficient. Even normal studies would take 30-40 seconds just to say all of the normal things. Over the course of a shift or the week, those seconds would add up and slow things down. It felt like being stuck in traffic.

vRad has a much better system. Everything that can be pulled from the patient's chart is right there in front of you, so you don’t have to repeat things that you are simply reading from a computer screen. Plus, you can use macros to say many of the things you would normally have to say over and over… and over. So now if I find myself saying the same thing more than 5 times a month, I’ll make a macro for it. In fact, I can create my own system for each thing I routinely say.

SHORTCUTS AND ALTERNATE ROUTES

For example, I’ve made marcos for all of the normal positive findings I see. I have a “Positive appendicitis” where it creates a macro describing an appendix where I just need to put in the size. It also has an impression of “Positive appendicitis with no evidence of perforation.” Other examples include “Large spleen 13” to “Large spleen 22” where it describes splenomegaly going from 13 inches to 22 inches. I have an “Ultrasound gallstones” macro where it describes a RUQ ultrasound that has a nondistended gallbladder with multiple gallstones. The vRad system ensures that I can cut out most of the talking I have to do and creates a report that ensures the things I said don’t have voice recognition errors.

Another aspect of the vRad platform that I really appreciate is the ability to eliminate any non-necessary information or “noise” so that I can focus only on the issue at hand. Since the system breaks it down by body parts, if I’m reading a spleen for example, I can have a macro that just says “gallstones” which compartmentalizes the data that I need to review. I don’t have to put up three or four different views, or take time to enter basic information because the platform auto-populates the screen with the information I need. This helps me with both speed and accuracy.

Finally, and this is something that I’ve wanted for years, I can click “next case” without having to enter any new information. This might sound like a small detail because saving fifteen or twenty seconds might not sound like a lot of time, over the course of a work week, you're able to read more, you're able to get results out faster. This efficiency is actually one of the key reasons I decided to join vRad.

If you are not familiar with the vRad platform, I highly recommend checking out Dr. Benjamin Strong’s video tour of how it works.

INCREASED EFFICIENCY, INCREASED EARNING POTENTIAL

When I’m working more efficiently, I’m a better part of the team. The ER physicians I work with might not notice that I get results of one case to them thirty seconds faster, but it adds up. At the end of a shift or the week, my increased efficiency helps them get to their patients faster. Another thing that adds up is my earnings. I get paid by the study, so if I can do something that makes me 10% faster, that 10% increase in efficiency translates into a 10% raise. I like being in the driver’s seat when it comes to my earning potential.