{"title":"A decision support system to increase the compliance of diagnostic imaging examinations with imaging guidelines: focused on cerebrovascular diseases.","authors":"Hamid Moghaddasi, Fatemeh Rahimi, Amir Saied Seddighi, Leila Akbarpour, Arash Roshanpoor","doi":"10.1515/dx-2024-0072","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Diagnostic imaging decision support (DI-DS) system has emerged as an innovative evidence-based solution to decrease inappropriate diagnostic imaging. The aim of the present study was to design and evaluate a DI-DS system for cerebrovascular diseases.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The present study was an applied piece of research. First, the conceptual model of the DI-DS system was designed based on its functional and non-functional requirements. Afterwards, to create the system's knowledge base, cerebrovascular diseases diagnostic imaging algorithms were extracted from the American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria (ACR-AC). Subsequently, the system was developed based on the obtained conceptual model and the extracted algorithms. The software was programmed by means of the C#. After debugging the system, it was evaluated regarding its performance and also the users' satisfaction with it.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Assessing the users' satisfaction with the system demonstrated that all the evaluation criteria met the acceptable threshold (85 %). The retrospective evaluation of the system's performance indicated that from among 76 imaging examinations, which had previously been performed for 30 patients, 12 (15.78 %) were deemed inappropriate. And, the system accurately identified all the inappropriate physicians' decisions. The concurrent evaluation of the system's performance indicated that the system's recommendations helped the physicians remove 100 % (4 out of 4) of the inappropriate and 40 % (2 out of 5) of the inconclusive imaging examinations from their initial choices.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>A DI-DS system could increase the compliance of the physicians' decisions with diagnostic imaging guidelines, and also improve treatment outcomes through correct diagnosis and providing timely care.</p>","PeriodicalId":11273,"journal":{"name":"Diagnosis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Diagnosis","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1515/dx-2024-0072","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives: Diagnostic imaging decision support (DI-DS) system has emerged as an innovative evidence-based solution to decrease inappropriate diagnostic imaging. The aim of the present study was to design and evaluate a DI-DS system for cerebrovascular diseases.
Methods: The present study was an applied piece of research. First, the conceptual model of the DI-DS system was designed based on its functional and non-functional requirements. Afterwards, to create the system's knowledge base, cerebrovascular diseases diagnostic imaging algorithms were extracted from the American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria (ACR-AC). Subsequently, the system was developed based on the obtained conceptual model and the extracted algorithms. The software was programmed by means of the C#. After debugging the system, it was evaluated regarding its performance and also the users' satisfaction with it.
Results: Assessing the users' satisfaction with the system demonstrated that all the evaluation criteria met the acceptable threshold (85 %). The retrospective evaluation of the system's performance indicated that from among 76 imaging examinations, which had previously been performed for 30 patients, 12 (15.78 %) were deemed inappropriate. And, the system accurately identified all the inappropriate physicians' decisions. The concurrent evaluation of the system's performance indicated that the system's recommendations helped the physicians remove 100 % (4 out of 4) of the inappropriate and 40 % (2 out of 5) of the inconclusive imaging examinations from their initial choices.
Conclusions: A DI-DS system could increase the compliance of the physicians' decisions with diagnostic imaging guidelines, and also improve treatment outcomes through correct diagnosis and providing timely care.
期刊介绍:
Diagnosis focuses on how diagnosis can be advanced, how it is taught, and how and why it can fail, leading to diagnostic errors. The journal welcomes both fundamental and applied works, improvement initiatives, opinions, and debates to encourage new thinking on improving this critical aspect of healthcare quality. Topics: -Factors that promote diagnostic quality and safety -Clinical reasoning -Diagnostic errors in medicine -The factors that contribute to diagnostic error: human factors, cognitive issues, and system-related breakdowns -Improving the value of diagnosis – eliminating waste and unnecessary testing -How culture and removing blame promote awareness of diagnostic errors -Training and education related to clinical reasoning and diagnostic skills -Advances in laboratory testing and imaging that improve diagnostic capability -Local, national and international initiatives to reduce diagnostic error