Skip to main content
 
Notice: Users may be experiencing issues with displaying some pages on stanfordhealthcare.org. We are working closely with our technical teams to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.
Stanford Health Care

Improving Prostate MR Image Quality in Practice - Initial results from the ACR Prostate MR Image Quality Improvement Collaborative.

Improving Prostate MR Image Quality in Practice - Initial results from the ACR Prostate MR Image Quality Improvement Collaborative. Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR Purysko, A. S., Zacharias-Andrews, K., Tomkins, K. G., Turkbey, I. B., Giganti, F., Bhargavan-Chatfield, M., Larson, D. B., ACR Prostate MR Image Quality Improvement Collaborative, Weinreb, J., Tempany, C., Smith, C., Hester, A., Chang, K., Martin, S., Gupta, R., Owenby, E., McLean, L., Campbell, L., Furlan, A., Grills, A. 2024

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Variability in prostate MRI quality is an increasingly recognized problem that negatively affects patient care. This report aims to describe the results and key learnings of the first cohort of the ACR Learning Network Prostate MR Image Quality Improvement Collaborative.METHODS: Teams from five organizations in the U.S. were trained on a structured improvement method. After reaching a consensus on image quality and auditing their images using the Prostate Imaging Quality (PI-QUAL) system, teams conducted a current state analysis to identify barriers to obtaining high-quality images. Through plan-do-study-act cycles involving frontline staff, each site designed and tested interventions targeting image quality key drivers. The percentage of exams meeting quality criteria (i.e., PI-QUAL score = 4) was plotted on a run chart, and project progress was reviewed in weekly meetings. At the collaborative level, the goal was to increase the percentage of exams with PI-QUAL = 4 to at least 85%.RESULTS: Across 2380 exams audited, the mean weekly rates of prostate MR exams meeting image quality criteria increased from 67% (range: 60-74%) at baseline to 87% (range: 80-97%) upon program completion. The most commonly employed interventions were MR protocol adjustments, development and implementation of patient preparation instructions, personell training and development of an auditing process mechanism.CONCLUSION: A Learning Network model, where organizations share knowledge and work together toward a common goal, can improve prostate MR image quality at multiple sites simultaneously. The inaugural cohort's key learnings provide a roadmap for improvement on a broader scale.

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jacr.2024.04.008

View details for PubMedID 38729590