Canadian Health Authorities Use Radiology Peer-Review Program to Enhance Care

A radiologist peer-review system allows organizations to track the complete imaging review process, and integrates with multiple picture archiving communication systems (PACS) to support cross-facility peer review.

The British Columbia Ministry of Health (Vancouver, Canada) has chosen McKesson (San Francisco, CA, USA) as the vendor for its radiologist peer-review initiative, the single largest cross-facility initiative of its kind in North America. As part of its ongoing quality improvement program, the Ministry of Health will utilize McKesson QICS for Radiologist Peer Review in a pilot to help update medical imaging processes and improve quality of care.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority will be first to employ McKesson’s system as part of the initial phase of the program, which includes more than 200 radiologists. In later phases, this provincial project will cover an area that is 1.4 times larger than the state of Texas and involves radiologists reviewing more than 3.5 million exams conducted annually.

The pilot will demonstrate the ability for a case that is initially read by a radiologist, at one health authority, to be peer-reviewed anonymously by a radiologist located in a different location and on a separate PACS. “Conducting peer review of radiologist reports is challenging, particularly across distinct infrastructures, hospital systems and PACS we have throughout our province,” said Dr. John Mathieson, medical director, medical imaging, Vancouver Island Health Authority. “By choosing McKesson for this initiative, for the first time we’ll have the ability to run a comprehensive province-wide quality improvement process, and be able to make some valuable changes that will result in better reporting of imaging studies.”

McKesson QICS for Radiologist Peer Review provides real-time reviews in a fully automated regulatory compliant system, incorporating to existing technology and enhancing existing workflow. The system’s novel rules engine intelligently selects the exams to be reviewed and routes them to the appropriate radiologist based on subspecialty. In the past, a peer review would occur days or weeks after a radiologist writes a report. With this system, the review can occur before the radiology report is sent to the ordering physician, so any needed intervention or corrections can be made in a timely way.

“McKesson QICS for Radiologist Peer Review is uniquely designed to help improve the exchange of information across large, complex hospital networks,” said Kevan Torgerson, president, enterprise medical imaging, McKesson Provider Technologies. “We look forward to working with the British Columbia Ministry of Health on this groundbreaking pilot. Our goal is to help organizations maximize the value of this solution to drive excellence in the delivery of better care, better business, and better connectivity.”

The British Columbia Ministry of Health has overall responsibility for ensuring that quality, appropriate, cost effective and timely health services are available for all British Columbians. The Ministry provides leadership, direction, and support to health-service delivery partners and sets province-wide goals, standards, and expectations for the delivery of health services. The Province’s six health authorities are the organizations primarily responsible for health service delivery. Five regional health authorities deliver a full range of health services to meet the needs of the population within their respective geographic regions.

A sixth health authority, the Provincial Health Services Authority, is responsible for managing province-wide health programs. The Ministry tracks the delivery of health services and the health of British Columbia’s population on an ongoing basis.

Related Links:
British Columbia Ministry of Health
McKesson