Mapping and Deep Analysis of Hospital Radiology Department to Identify Workflow Challenges and Their Potential Digital Solutions

Abstract

The increasing use of imaging services and continuous technological advancement require regular optimisation of the hospital’s radiology department. Assessing stakeholders to find realistic challenges is an essential step towards achieving the desired quadruple aim (reducing costs, increasing quality of care and improving patient and clinician experience) in healthcare. The statistical gaps explored and the evidence in the literature justify the need for continuous and rapid assessment, identification of challenges, identification of trends and subsequent search for solutions in each radiology department. We have found an average increase of 7.3 per cent annually in reported computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and interventional radiology services over the last 10 years, but the number of radiologists has only increased by 2 per cent per year. In Germany, the statistics show a continuous increase in examinations per radiologist with a compound annual growth rate of 4.68 per cent. This article presents a pathway for planning, evaluating and subsequently improving individual radiology departments using a transdisciplinary approach to innovation. The transdisciplinary innovation approach was applied with 36 young innovation fellows with multidisciplinary knowledge from different global locations (Germany, India, China, UAE and USA). As part of our transdisciplinary approach, a qualitative approach was used to collect challenges during hospital visits. We identified over 100 key challenges and 10 healthcare trends from the clinical area. We developed templates for mapping the status quo, trends and challenges in radiology for each radiology department as a tool for assessment. We believe that the proposed transdisciplinary methodology, the resulting radiology model, the template(s) and the proposed digital infrastructure will be useful in the future mapping and optimisation of radiology departments.