Quality over quantity: 8 ways radiology practices can provide value-based care
Radiology’s shift from volume to value began a number of years ago. However, according to a new analysis published in Radiology, it can be challenging for imaging leaders to know how to successfully make that transition within their own practices.
“Much has been written about the concept,” wrote authors Jonathan B. Kruskal, PhD, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, and David B. Larson, MD, MBA, of the Stanford University School of Medicine. “Still, it can be hard for individual practices and individual radiologists to know what specific steps can be taken to increasingly shift to a value-based practice.”
Kruskal and Larson shared numerous strategies for radiologists hoping to stay on top of modern healthcare trends and transition to a value-based practice. These are eight of the duo’s suggestions:
1. Understand your customers
In any business, to provide real value, one must satisfy his or her customers. In the case of a radiologist, the authors noted, customers are typically physicians who order the exams. Patients, meanwhile, are usually the radiologist’s indirect customers.
“Radiology practices focused on value understand who are their major referring clinician groups and continuously inquire as to what aspects of performance they most desire to see improved,” Kruskal and Larson wrote. “They then work to meet those desires in a measurable way. The concept of value boils down to this simple principle.”
2. Be “true physicians”
Radiology, of course, is more than simply interpreting exams. Kruskal and Larson emphasized the importance of going beyond that and acting as “the doctor’s doctor.” Radiologists should participate on hospital boards and committees, for example, and make themselves available at all times of the day. Responding positively to feedback is yet another thing radiologists can do to provide value on a regular basis.
3. Communicate well
Providing high-quality radiology reports is absolutely essential for any radiologist. Doing the bare minimum keeps ordering clinicians from having the best information possible and can lead to worse patient care.
“It is no longer acceptable to use imprecise terms such as interval, short-term, non-urgent or routine,” Kruskal and Larson wrote. “Our recommendations should reflect national guidelines and other accepted practice standards. It is unacceptable to attach disclaimers excusing typographic and grammatical errors.”
It’s about more than just the reports, the authors added. Sometimes, just picking up the phone and talking to a physician can make a world of difference and show just how valuable you are to the care of a patient.
4. Embrace teamwork
Teamwork should be encouraged in healthcare, not discouraged, and radiologists can make a profound difference by building “trusting relationships” with other providers. If you aren’t able to get along with your colleagues, it means patients aren’t being treated in the healthiest possible work environment.
5. Become a learning organization
The authors explained that a learning organization is one that always pushes to learn more and can easily adapt to new knowledge and information. In a true learning organization, phrases such as “that’s how we’ve always done it” or “it’s working good enough as it is” just don’t cut it.
6. Be smart about using resources
“A major part of providing value is knowing what activities to avoid,” Kruskal and Larson wrote. “The equivalent of the readmission rate for clinical patient care in radiology includes unnecessary repeat studies; inappropriate recommendations; nondiagnostic studies; procedure complications; negative customer experience; poor follow-up management; adverse safety events; delayed interpretations; and incorrect, vague, or changed interpretations.”
Radiologists should also work with referring clinicians to keep imaging utilization appropriate, the authors added. By providing clear explanations to questions and always being willing to engage, the radiologist can help clinicians know as much as possible about when to—and when not to—order imaging services.
7. Be more thoughtful when measuring, improving performance
Developing and applying performance measures is a significant part of modern radiology. Are you doing your best to improve? Are you thinking outside the box to find new ways to improve patient care? If the answer to either question is “no,” you have some work to do before you can truly provide value-based care.
8. Develop processes and systems that make it easier for radiologists to excel
To provide the best possible care, radiology departments need the right processes and systems in place. Working with the IT department, for example, can lead to improvements in the ways reports are read, written, shared or saved. Without working to make such improvements a reality, your department is not reaching its full potential and doing everything it can to help referring clinicians and patients.
The authors also noted that radiologists must help guide the development and implementation artificial intelligence and deep learning technologies.
“As our work becomes increasingly dependent on automated algorithms, we must fight to ensure that they are used to enhance rather than compromise critical but less tangible elements that bring value, such as interpersonal interactions, communication, relationships, feedback and learning, and collegiality,” Kruskal and Larson.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.