Quality Improvement in Radiology: White Paper Report of the Sun Valley Group Meeting

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jacr.2006.01.009 Byline: C. Daniel Johnson (a), Stephen J. Swensen (a), Kimberley E. Applegate (b), C. Craig Blackmore (c), James P. Borgstede (d), John F. Cardella (e), James A. Dilling (a), N. Reed Dunnick (f), Lucy W. Glenn (g), Bruce J. Hillman (h), Lawrence S. Lau (i), Frank J. Lexa (j), Jeffrey C. Weinreb (k), Pamela Wilcox (l) Keywords: Quality; safety; pay for performance; Sun Valley Group Abstract: The Sun Valley Group is an informal assembly of individuals interested in improving quality in radiology. Its first meeting was held in September 2005. The purposes of the meeting was to share quality improvement experiences, consider a strategy for promoting quality improvement initiatives across the radiology profession, and initiate quality benchmarking efforts. Representatives from private practice, academia, national quality programs, and international societies were in attendance. Four main themes were presented: the sharing of leading quality activities in radiology, the future of pay-for-performance systems, programs and future initiatives of professional radiology societies, and health services research guidelines for developing outcome metrics. This white paper summarizes information presented in each of these thematic areas and concludes with the group's plans for future activities. Among these is a formal educational program for all radiologists interested in implementing a quality improvement program within their practice, to be hosted by the ACR. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn (b) Department of Radiology, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Ind (c) Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash (d) Department of Radiology, Colorado Springs Radiologists, Colorado Springs, Colo (e) Department of Radiology, University of Colorado Health Science Center, Denver, Colo (f) Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Health Sciences, Ann Arbor, Mich (g) Department of Radiology, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Wash (h) Department of Radiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va (i) Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Monash Medical Centre, Victoria, Australia (j) Global Consulting Practicum, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa (k) Department of Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn (l) American College of Radiology, Reston, Va