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15-Jun-2011

The HITECH Act specifies that all Patient Safety Organizations are considered Business Associates under HIPAA. The HITECH Act fur..

21-Jul-2010

St. Vincent Mercy Hospital demonstrates quality management leadership in the field of medical imaging services. Under the lea..

16-Mar-2010

We are very pleased to announce that we were granted a U.S. Patent of the QAISys Business Method on March 16th, 2010. U.S. Pa..

QAISys Method

This page provides a high-level overview the QAISys® process.  Each of the key steps in the process has a dedicated page where greater detail is available.

QAISys Method Overview

We believe that radiologist feedback is a vital resource for effective quality management.*  We enable our clients to efficiently collect this feedback, process it, and utilize it to maximum effect.  To accomplish this, we gather and combine two distinct sets of data to formulate ratings and present them within an extremely rich data environment.

First, we collect a Completed Exam (CE) record for every exam performed within the department.  These records include the date, time, location (specific room), exam type, performing technologist, and the birth month and year of the patient.  These exam demographics are used as statistical background that enables us to query the data into specified groups of exams.  For more information, see QAISys Method>CE Records Collection.

Second, we collect feedback from the interpreting radiologist for exams that are in some way quality deficient.  It is important to note that providing feedback is a very simple and quick process and that feedback is necessary only for flawed exams (typically 1% to 3%).  For more information, see QAISys Method>Radiologist Feedback Collection.

Third, we enable the quality manager to convert the feedback into a numeric value called a Dissatisfaction Value (DV).  QMS makes it so that this process of converting the qualitative feedback into quantitative data is simple yet allows for an appropriate statistical accounting of all relevant information.  For more information, see QAISys Method>Feedback Conversion.

The following diagram illustrates these three data collection steps.

This diagram shows QAISys data inputs.

Fourth, we formulate a QAISys Rating (QR) by comparing the number of CE records with the sum of Dissatisfaction Values within a related group of exams.  QMS formulates ratings in the background and presents them in a variety of tools that facilitate analysis and review.  For more information, see QAISys Method>Ratings Formulation.

Fifth, we facilitate in-depth analysis of the statistical ratings through a dashboard interface that allows exams to be grouped and queried using a set of data filters. The dashboard graphically displays the ratings enabling managers to make comparisons, track ratings, and drill into specific common causes.  The dashboard provides integrated reports that readily facilitate report distribution and review.  For more information, see QAISys Method>Data Analysis and Tracking.

* This description of the QAISys® method is focused on efficiently collecting radiologist feedback.  However, our system accommodates incorporation of feedback from other key sources such as:

  • Independent reports on excessive repeat exposure, report discrepancies, and report turn-around-time
  • Feedback from quality managers derived from spot reviews of exams
  • Feedback solicited from referring physicians
  • Feedback derived from patient surveys

For more information, see Discussions>Additional Feedback Sources.

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