Assignment 1 - HIM6350
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University of South Florida *
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6350
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Medicine
Date
Jan 9, 2024
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docx
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Uploaded by MajorGalaxy9288
1
Assignment 1
Stephen Skinner
University of South Florida
HIM6350: e-Medicine Business Models
Week 1
May 6, 2023
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As a radiologic technologist (RT) at an emergency department (ED) for a level one
trauma center hospital, the process I will write about is our patient imaging process for
diagnostic X-rays (XRs). The overall process can vary depending on the type of exam, patient
acuity, and other variables but a basic workflow model will be described. In an article by Hitti et
al. (2017), the authors found that 46.8% of patients in the United States underwent some form of
imaging during ED visits. Additionally, the number of imaging examinations per ED visit was
0.73 in 2006 and increased to 0.94 by 2014 (Selvarajan et al., 2019). Therefore, imaging is an
integral part of many ED workups and the processes must be optimal for all parties involved.
The goals of the imaging process include providing diagnostic imaging in order to aid
physicians with diagnosing patients presenting to the ED with medical complaints. The first step
in the imaging process is the patient actually arriving at the ED and requesting to be seen at the
front desk. From there, the patient is registered and waits to be seen by the triage nurse. In triage,
chief complaints are explained and patient information is added to the electronic health record
(EHR).
If imaging is needed, an order is placed and sent over to the radiology information system
(RIS). When technologists receive the order in the RIS, it gets printed out as a piece of paper that
contains all pertinent information for the exam. Patients will either be transported to the XR
room or placed in a bed/room where technologists can perform the exam with portable machines.
The exam is completed and the XRs are sent to the picture archiving and communication system
(PACS), which is the digital repository for all medical imaging within the hospital. In the PACS,
the RT confirms the correct images were taken, adjusts image quality, and sends the images to
radiologists to be read. Imaging orders are finalized by the technologists in the RIS and sent off
to billing staff. The radiologists read the images and send diagnostic reports back to the PACS
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and the EHR. ED physicians read the reports and determine the correct course of treatment for
the patient based off the imaging and other diagnostic tools.
Customers within this imaging process include anyone affected by the workflow model:
patients, ED physicians, technologists, radiologists, nursing staff, and billing/coding staff.
Patients undergo imaging in order to determine if anything is wrong with them. ED physicians
use imaging to help determine the best course of treatment for patients they care for.
Technologists perform the imaging that is ordered for the patients and help physicians treat them.
Radiologists read these images and make diagnoses, subsequently helping the ED physicians to
treat patients. Nursing staff rely on imaging in order to help carry out the course of treatment that
ED physicians prescribe for patients. Coders and billing staff use the imaging codes in order to
properly bill the patient for services. Lastly, deliverables include imaging so that injuries and
diseases can be diagnosed or ruled out for patients, courses of treatment that are aided by the
imaging, continuation of care, safety nets for healthcare practitioners, and revenue for hospitals.
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References
Hitti, E. A., El-Eid, G. R., Tamim, H., Saleh, R., Saliba, M., & Naffaa, L. (2017). Improving
emergency department radiology transportation time: A successful implementation of lean
methodology.
BMC Health Services Research
,
17
(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-017-
2488-5
Selvarajan, S. K., Levin, D. C., & Parker, L. (2019). The increasing use of emergency
department imaging in the United States: Is it appropriate?
American Journal of
Roentgenology
,
213
(4). https://doi.org/10.2214/ajr.19.21386