Examinations, Protocols, and “Auto” Protocols

How is a clinical need translated into a specific imaging service? This chapter describes how radiology departments may try to satisfy the needs captured in the order by offering a range of services, how the details of those services are specified, and how they are translated into the Current Procedure Terminology (CPT) codes that are necessary for billing. Along the way it considers who may create an examination, and who should specify the “protocol” (and when), and gives some suggestions about how to keep those protocols safe and manageable.

[1]  Andrew K Moriarity,et al.  Reducing barriers to timely MR imaging scheduling. , 2014, Radiographics : a review publication of the Radiological Society of North America, Inc.

[2]  Derik L Davis,et al.  Patient-Centered Care in Diagnostic Radiology: Lessons Learned From Patient Interviews Prior to Musculoskeletal Magnetic Resonance Imaging , 2015, Quality management in health care.

[3]  N. Obuchowski,et al.  Comparison of a fast 5-min knee MRI protocol with a standard knee MRI protocol: a multi-institutional multi-reader study , 2017, Skeletal Radiology.

[4]  C. Mercado,et al.  Abbreviated MRI Protocols: Wave of the Future for Breast Cancer Screening. , 2017, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[5]  R. Khorasani,et al.  Technologist Productivity and Accuracy in Assigning Protocols for Abdominal CT and MRI Examinations at an Academic Medical Center: Implications for Physician Workload. , 2019, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[6]  Cole DiRoberto,et al.  Prioritizing the Protocol: Improving the Process of Scheduling Imaging Examinations in a Radiology Department With Partially Integrated IT Systems. , 2017, Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR.

[7]  Donna T Hallett,et al.  Optimizing MRI Logistics: Focused Process Improvements Can Increase Throughput in an Academic Radiology Department. , 2017, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[8]  Chad Klochko,et al.  Order Entry Protocols Are an Amenable Target for Workflow Automation. , 2018, Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR.