Radiology dashboard gives ED docs real-time insights on pending imaging exams

A multidisciplinary group of experts has developed a radiology dashboard to give emergency docs real-time insights on the status of pending imaging exams. 

Researchers with the University of Pennsylvania recently detailed their work in the Journal of the American College of Radiology [1]. Their institution handled roughly 270,000 radiology exams in the ED last year, representing a 4.5-fold increase over the last decade. Rising imaging volumes can create bottlenecks, they noted, potentially increasing turnaround times and patient lengths of stay. 

To address this, they created a dashboard displaying up-to-the-minute info on the status of exams, pulling data from the EHR and radiology information system. UPenn researchers noted early success, with the dash receiving 802 views per week post-implementation and most exams boasting turnaround times better than expected. 

“Collaborative communication between the ED and radiology is imperative for quality patient care. It is also necessary as ED patients rely on imaging studies to help diagnose their chief complaint,” lead author Ali H. Dhanaliwala, MD, PhD, with the Philadelphia institution’s Department of Radiology, and colleagues concluded. “A web-based dashboard is a low-cost method for sharing information between departments that benefits clinicians and patients and obviates the need for disruptive phone calls.”

To develop the dashboard, UPenn formed an interdepartmental team consisting of radiologists, emergency medicine physicians, and software engineers with experience in database management and user-interface design. Key features of the system include tracking of imaging orders from placement to preliminary report, estimation of turnaround times, and qualitative metrics on the radiology department’s workload. To help maintain patient privacy, exams were identified via chief complaint, patient sex and age, room number and the last name of the ordering provider. Researchers also developed an algorithm based on historical trends for predicting expected turnaround times and used surveys and focus groups to gather feedback about the web-based application. 

Penn Medicine deployed the dashboard across four emergency departments between 2020 and 2021. The first year, the dashboard saw an average of 9,397 views per week, normalizing to 802 from 2022 to 2024. Peak usage was about 5,135 views each week. Direct impact was difficult to gauge, due to limited ability to track radiology reading room phone call volume and the COVID pandemic impacting implementation. 

“Notably, initial deployment at the main hospital ED was met with such positive enthusiasm that four additional EDs within the system placed requests for their own site-specific dashboards,” the authors reported. “Usage statistics are also encouraging with continued robust utilization 3.5 years after deployment, suggesting an ongoing desire for this information.”

Initially, those involved planned to only display data on a single screen in the ED. However, after testing it out, they found that docs preferred to view the dash via the computer on which they were working (a move that helped to further reduce costs). Follow-up data showed that about 50% of imaging exams were completed within 10 minutes of the estimated time and two-thirds were finished faster than the initial quote. A low response rate to follow-up surveys limited the usefulness of the results, the authors noted. 

“Although ED staff such as nurses and aides were not included in the survey, anecdotal feedback was notable for improved patient satisfaction with use of a radiology dashboard,” Dhanaliwala and colleagues wrote. “The dashboard allowed the staff to provide patients, who were often curious about how long their imaging would take, with an estimated wait time. With the dashboard, the ED team felt better equipped to answer these questions without having to disrupt the radiologists.”

Read more about the study, including limitation’s and potential follow-up investigations, below.