THE ADVANTAGE OF RIS REPORTS
By Ron Sims
“In God we trust; all others must bring data.” I first heard the famous Deming quote from a
manager, and it has always stuck with me. In the current economy, leadership, managers, and
department supervisors are being asked to justify their staff levels, projects, and
infrastructure requests. Many times, Diagnostic Imaging departments have their own radiology
IT systems, and still rely on finance or external benchmarks to give them statistics on items,
such as: volume, RVU’s, top procedures, and staffing estimates. These teams then take the
high-level statistics and try to work out the details to maintain the quality service that
patient have come to expect. Unknowingly, Diagnostic Imaging managers may be undercutting those
they serve.
Access to a radiology IT system is like holding the keys to the kingdom. There is a massive
amount of data readily available with the most detailed statistics. Systems typically have
statistical information on procedure volumes, volumes by shift, staff, days, and resources.
They also have volumes by patient types, peak work times, and procedure performance/wait times.
Users also have the ability to run statistics for non-billable, as well as billable items,
especially those that have RVU’s and require greater efforts that the finance department does
not report. Utilizing the data for workflow and process improvement will ultimately pay dividends
in the future.
To make the most efficient use of this data, the first step to take is to understand what
information is required and the reports used to supply them. Get to know how information is
captured and managed (such as logbooks, homegrown spreadsheets, and post-it notes). Next, review
your goals and objectives in order to create reports that provide the statistics and trending
information to make strategic decisions and capitalize on revenue opportunities. These reports
will show potential areas of need and possible resource sharing opportunities. Reports can also
show wait times, turnaround times, and over/under utilization of resources. They may also help
justify equipment purchases and upgrades by showing procedure times by resources.
Sir Francis Bacon in the late 1500s termed the quote “knowledge is power”. Properly developed
reports give you the power by supplying the information to make educated decisions and meet the
demands for lean, efficient, and effective teams.
For more on effectively utilizing RIS/PACS reports please email us at
vcs@getvitalized.com or call us at 610.444.1233. To
learn more about VCS, visit our website at www.getvitalized.com.