Radiology Services Management Guide

Radiology has become the most powerful tool for doctors to make assertive diagnoses. Although patients can describe their symptoms, there is nothing more accurate than evaluating the internal structure of the body to show if there are anomalies and thus indicate more precise treatments. Hence, hospitals strive to provide this service, but for this they require management guidance.

The above is attributed to the fact that it is not easy to have an imaging department. There are several reasons, such as:

• High demand for studies
• Storage system
• X-ray room installation requirements
• Information confidentiality system

In other words, it's a job that doesn't just consist of the equipment that captures the images and the operators. On the other hand, there is a lot of management to satisfy patients, with short waiting times, sending digital studies to doctors and interested parties, secure storage, and so on.

Hospital administration in radiology

Proper hospital administration is the key to good management in radiology. This encompasses both the activities that occur when the patient is in the waiting room and in all the spaces where the different modalities are performed, such as: tomography, mammography, ultrasound, MRI, among others.

• Waiting time before the study. The idea is that the person arrives at the radiology area and can be treated as soon as possible. The time to wait should be while the reception person takes your data, bills the study, searches for a history (if applicable) and indicates where to proceed.
• Study time. The information received from the patient in the previous step must go directly to the technician who will perform the study, to avoid setbacks when the person enters the room. This way, the operator will quickly tell the person what to do to capture images.
• Processing time. At the end of the study, either the technician or a person in charge will send the studies to the specialist. If you have a tool such as PACS systems, this is quite fast, since it works with standard formats and efficient communication channels.
• Delivery of results. Depending on the type of hospital, the patient can receive their study via email. The use of physical plates is a thing of the past.
• Storage. Once the images are processed, the next step is to have a quick storage with a maximum period of 15 days. Then, the study can move to the files, which are digitally the servers.

Functions of a radiologist in a hospital

For optimal management of the radiology department, it is important that radiologists have well-defined roles. In addition to capturing the images together with the operator, he is the professional responsible for:

• Receive the patient and give safety guidelines, such as the use of leaded aprons if applicable.
• Validate the studies to be carried out and consider the use of contrasts indicated previously by the specialist.
• Manage equipment with expertise, and request training whenever you consider it necessary.
• Ensure the proper functioning of the equipment, in case of faults, notify their managers as soon as possible.
• Tell medical specialists, even before sending the images, if you notice a significant abnormality.

Therefore, if the health center has tools such as PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) systems, the radiologist and all staff related to the studies must know how to use the platform. This constant training is key when acquiring technological improvements, which is why Eva PACS offers technical support at all times to its customers.