ACRAD25 – Report Turnaround Time: Mammography

Measure Title: Report Turnaround Time: Mammography

Measure Description Mean mammography report turnaround time (RTAT).

Denominator: Total number of mammography exams completed

Numerator: Mean time from exam completion to final signature on report, in hours

Denominator Exclusions: None

Denominator Exceptions: None

Numerator Exclusions: None

Published Specialty: Radiology

High Priority Measure: Yes

Measure Type: Outcome

Include Telehealth: No

Inverse Measure: Yes

Proportional Measure: No

Continuous Variable Measure: Yes

Ratio Measure: No

Score Range: Continuous Variable range of scores: 0.00-9999.00

Number of Performance Rates: 1

Performance Rate Description: Mean mammography report turnaround time (RTAT).

Risk Adjusted Status: No

MIPS Reporting Options: Traditional MIPS

Care Setting: Ambulatory; Emergency Department and Services; Hospital Inpatient; Hospital Outpatient; Imaging Facility

Clinical Recommendation Statement: This measure was approved by CMS for QCDR inclusion in 2017.

The written imaging report is a key method for providing diagnostic interpretation to referring clinicians from radiologists. Timely final imaging reports support informed and efficient decision making for treatment plans by referring physicians, and ultimately the delivery of care to patients. While important to timely treatment and potentially better health outcomes, short turnaround of reports also improves patients’ experience with care, cuts input costs, and improves the throughput of imaging exams. Rapid turnaround time (TAT) of reports is especially important to patient care provided in the emergency department (ED). These measures encompass all settings, enabling quality improvement in each. While the definition of timeliness depends on setting or site characteristics, using comparative benchmarks from registry data provides radiologists with transparent feedback to optimize TAT at their sites. The American Board of Radiology includes “”turnaround time”” as one category from which radiologists may select to conduct a practice quality improvement (Part IV) for continued Maintenance of Certification.

References:
1. ACR Practice Guideline for Communication of Diagnostic Imaging Findings
http://www.acr.org/~/media/ACR/Documents/PGTS/guidelines/Comm_Diag_Imaging.pdf
2. Janet L. Strife, Larry E. Kun, Gary J. Becker, N. Reed Dunnick, Jennifer Bosma, Robert R. Hattery.
The American Board of Radiology Perspective on Maintenance of Certification: Part IV—Practice
Quality Improvement for Diagnostic Radiology , 2007, Vol.243: 309- 313,
10.1148/radiol.2432061954
3. Kruskal JB, Anderson S, Yam CS, Sosna J. Strategies for establishing a comprehensive quality
and performance improvement program in a radiology department. Radiographic. 2009
Mar- Apr;29(2):315-29. doi: 10.114 /rg.292085090. Epub 2009 Jan 23. PubMed PMID:
19168762.
4. Reiner BI. The challenges, opportunities, and imperative of structured reporting in medical
imaging. J Digit Imaging. 2009 Dec;22(6):562-8. doi: 10.1007/s10278-009-9239-z. Review.
PubMed PMID: 19816742; PubMed Central PMCID:PMC2782125.
5. Swensen SJ, Johnson CD. Radiology quality and safety: mapping value into radiology. J Am
Coll Radiol 2005;2:992-1000.
6. Towbin AJ, Iyer SB, Brown J, Varadarajan K, Perry LA, Larson DB. Practice policy and quality
initiatives: decreasing variability in turnaround time for radiographic studies from the
emergency department. Radiographic. 2013 Mar-Apr;33(2):361-71. doi:
10.1148/rg.332125738. PubMed PMID: 23479701.

Measure Rationale: The written imaging report is a key method for providing diagnostic interpretation to referring clinicians from radiologists. Timely final imaging reports support informed and efficient decision making for treatment plans by referring physicians, and ultimately the delivery of care to patients. While important to timely treatment and potentially better health outcomes, short turnaround of reports also improves patients’ experience with care, cuts input costs, and improves the throughput of imaging exams. Rapid turnaround time (TAT) of reports is especially important to patient care provided in the emergency department (ED). These measures encompass all settings, enabling quality improvement in each. While the definition of timeliness depends on setting or site characteristics, using comparative benchmarks from registry data provides radiologists with transparent feedback to optimize TAT at their sites. The American Board of Radiology includes “”turnaround time”” as one category from which radiologists may select to conduct a practice quality improvement (Part IV) for continued Maintenance of
Certification.