An Analysis of Quality Measures in Diagnostic Radiology with Suggestions for Future Advancement

摘要

Radiology in the United States of America is evolving from a fee-for-service to a value-based, "pay-for-performance" system. Such a system requires objective measures, termed metrics, to grade performance. Current grading systems in health care, not designed with the unique nature of radiology in mind, often emphasize patient outcomes; this can be a challenge for measuring and grading performance in radiology, which is often several steps removed from patient outcome. At the present, while there are hundreds of individual radiology specific metrics, there is no widely accepted overall standard for quality or value in diagnostic radiology services. This article analyzes the current system of radiology metrics and suggests a new direction for performance-based reimbursement in diagnostic radiology, focusing on a limited number of reasonably measurable outcomes-related factors that are specific to radiology.