October 18, 2009

Peer Review in Radiology (1)

What is Peer Review?

  • Most common method to assess performance of medical and clinical knowledge among radiologists
  • An assessment of adherence to standard of care of radiologists, typically involve diagnostic accuracy
  • Degree of interpretative agreement between radiologists is often used (perceived diagnostic features, correct interpretation and reporting)
Why Peer Review?
  • Ongoing quality assurance of diagnostic accuracy is important in radiology
  • It is also one of several crucial aspects in the maintenance of certification
  • It may ensure adherence to standard of care within an institution
  • It helps identifying opportunities for additional education, error reduction and self improvement
How to Peer Review?
  • In general, there are two methods: proactive or reactive
  • Proactive is to assign routine double reading of imaging studies by separate radiologists and compare the results
  • Reactive is by using discrepancy reporting, or by re-reviewing a previously read study during routine interpretation of a current study to evaluate the previous radiologist's interpretation.
  • Scoring is given for different degrees of discrepancy
Reference:

Mahgerefteh S, Kruskal JB, Yam CS, et al. Peer review in diagnostic radiology: current state and a vision for the future. Radiographics 2009;29:1221-1231.

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