Optimizing Radiology-related workflows in an Emergency Department: a single centre experience from National University Hospital of Singapore.

This article describes our experience in developing operational guideline and strategies implemented in our practice to optimize Radiology-related workflows in Emergency Department (EMD). These are pertaining to the changes that brought by global outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and on-boarding of Next Generation Electronic Medical Records (NGEMR) in the institution. The Radiology Department (RD) has established new and efficient guidelines to ensure timely diagnosis and treatment are delivered to the patients. These were achieved with frequent review of current workflows, machines upgrade, implementations of Quality Improvement Project (QIP), innovations on radiology-related procedures radiation dose simulation and a new paperless workflow. The new workflows have achieved 95% of reporting TAT within 2hours, 90% in various safety indicators and eliminated the usage of hard-copy radiology request forms. Due to rapid changes in clinical and administrative needs, the department has faced challenges in up-keeping its Key Performance Index (KPI) in various areas. From our experience, this was due to multiple reasons including staffs taking longer time to familiarize with the new workflows, lack of systematic guidelines and substandard planning during the roll out of new workflows. This had potentially compromised our patient's safety and functionality of RD. The department has utilized multiple approaches and effectively resolved the challenges faced. This article provides insights and guidelines in optimizing Radiology-related workflows in view of the changes that brought by COVID-19 and NGEMR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]