Quality Improvement Overview

The Quality and Patient Safety Committee in Radiology at UMass Memorial Medical Center was established in July, 2013. Quality officers were assigned to represent all divisions of clinical and technical radiology, as well as representatives from radiology physics, billing and coding, and nursing. Quality officers oversee division level quality meetings and quality improvement (QI) projects and report to the Vice Chair of Radiology Quality, Patient Safety, and Process Improvement. Quality Assurance (QA) cases and newly proposed Quality Improvement Projects are reviewed by the Vice Chair for evaluation at the department level Quality and Patient Safety Committee quarterly meeting. Ultimately, cases and projects with department wide implications are selected by the committee for presentation at radiology M&M/quality and patient safety noon conference.

The implementation of the PeerVue program in early October 2014 has greatly expanded the availability of QA/QI data for the Committee. The PeerVue program allows for real time data collection in a variety of Quality Sectors including: Critical Results Communication, Peer Review, Technical Quality Monitoring, and Billing/Coding Compliance. The data acquired through the PeerVue program has allowed the Quality and Patient Safety Committee to develop new and build upon existing QI projects and also allows real time monitoring of Peer Review feedback and technical performance. Radiology residents are encouraged to participate in quality improvement projects and can utilize PeerVue data to advance their initiatives. A second year radiology resident also serves on a 1 year term/rotating bases as a member of the Quality and Patient Safety Committee with the goal of functioning as a resident liaison while completing a resident driven QI project or initiative.